The Baka Genius
by neverlandsfirstlostgirl
Summary: Naruto's dead last reputation is a facade. He is actually much stronger then Uchiha Sasuke! But he gives up his facade when Iruka tells him that his family would want him to prove everyone wrong. They start missing the old Naruto, was it really all a lie? Will his adventures help him become the happy person he once pretended to be?(One-sided NaruSasu) (NaruHina) (Slight DarkNaruto)
1. The Revelation

**Author's Note:**

**Came out with a new Naruhina fan fic. I know I'm still working on my Black Butler one, but this came to me and I just had to type it up. I will be posting up a new chapter for my Black Butler fan fiction soon, AP just kicks my ass so hard I barley have time! ANyways, enjoy this meanwhile!**

**-S-**

**In this fan fic Hanabi is Hinata's twin sister, and they are both considered the Heirs of the Hyuga clan until they are eighteen and the clan elders decide who is strong and who fits the role best. Naruto already knows about his father and his mother and has trained with Iruka and the Hokage since he was 10 so that he could protect himself from assassins until the ANBUs came. Naruto's dead last reputation is a facade, he uses it so that people won't think he's a threat because he's weak.**

It was the day of their Genin Exam, and Hinata was poking her fingers together, silently hoping Naruto good luck as he was called to take the exam next. She knew he wasn't very good at making clones, but she also knew he would try his best nonetheless.

Naruto rolled his eyes slightly when he entered the room where the Genin Exam was being taken place. He needed to do this and he understood that. No matter how frustrating it could be. Iruka called for him to begin, Naruto made the appropriate signs and a sickly pale Naruto poofed beside him and crumpled to the floor. He cursed himself and made a big scene about his disappointment in his failure.

Iruka gave Naruto a grim smile, lips thinned is disapproval.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't pass you."

Mizuki smiled, "Oh come on Iruka! I'm sure we can let this slide just once, besides it much better than the time before!"

"Nope, he has to do it _properly_. Sorry Naruto but it's no pass."

Naruto walked out somberly, swinging slowly as he saw everyone with their parents. He could hear the whispering behind him, he knew what they were saying, he bit his tongue. _'Just one more year.' _He thought to himself. He was well aware of the eyes that were staring at them, he knew them all too well. But he had to keep up his façade not only for him, but for _her_ too.

**oOoOo**

Later, as he was walking he noticed three boys ganging up on one girl. From what he could see they were taunting her about rankings. Naruto immediately rushed to aid her side. Appearing out of nowhere he startled the three failed genins. But then they recognized him.

"Hey it's the Uzumaki-brat!"

"I heard he failed the test again!"

"Man you're such a loser, no one like you could ever become a ninja! And even if you could I bet you'd die as soon as you went on your first mission! Not like anyone would miss you!"

Like he hasn't heard that one before.

"You know who else would die?"

"Hmm… I don't know. But there is this one girl whose sister is at the top of the class…"

"But she is such a coward and a weakling! She'd definitely be dead!"

Okay that pissed him off, without even thinking twice about it he made one sign. Two picture perfect clones appeared before him and even without the byakgugan Hinata could see that they were no ordinary clones. The three Naruto grabbed on to the three boys, their eyes all widened when they noticed that the clones had physical forms.

Iruka and Mizuki appeared in a blur, stopping the three Narutos from doing any physical damage.

"Well, well, I think this counts as you passing you're genin exam. Don't you think so Iruka?"

Iruka smirked a bit, which was a strange thing to see on his kind face.

"Oh I definitely do."

**oOoOo**

Mizuki took a slightly shocked Hinata home and the other three boys to their house, telling each of their parents what had happened. Their eyes widened when Mizuki told them exactly who they were picking on, probably out of fear and relief. Of course he knew the Hyuuga heir would say nothing about it to her father.

Meanwhile, Iruka took a rather annoyed Naruto to Ichiraku's. Despite his offer of Naruto being able to eat all the ramen he wanted to today, Naruto still didn't seem all that happy. They sat on the stool and sat in an uncomfortable silence after Teuichi and Ayame took their orders.

"I can't believe you took the chance to spoil my plan."

"Well I couldn't refuse the opportunity, when it was well, right there. Plus this plan of yours is really souring up your reputation Naruto!"

"I know but that's the whole point Iruka-sensei! I thought I was going to be as strong as I wanted to be by now but I'm not so I had to push back a whole year."

"Naruto, the Third and I have helped you a lot through the years but there is only so much we can do. Like it or not you can't be taught under us secretly forever."

"I know but I just wanted to wait another year to see…"

"To see if you're Godfather will show up?"

Naruto managed to croak a, "Yeah."

Iruka sighed, "He's working very hard Naruto. He is making sure that the village stays safe. I've only met you're godfather, father, and mother a few times but I know that they all like it better if you proved everyone wrong, then if you let them keep their current opinions."

As he said this Iruka took off his head band and placed it around Naruto's neck. Naruto didn't object to this, so Iruka guessed that he was slowly accepting what Iruka had done.

"Alright sensei, well after this can I give you money so that you can buy me some new clothes. I guess if I'm going to have everyone take me seriously I should start there."

Iruka smiled, "Of course Naruto, I'll give them to you at your house before you have to report back to the school to find out which team you're on."

Naruto smiled widely, something Iruka knew would never change, and he didn't want it too either. All was well again and both of them were excited for the next day.

**oOoOo**

Iruka kept to his word and sure enough showed up at Naruto's in the morning with a brand new ninja uniform. Along with some new kunais, shurken, and a gift wrapped box. Of course, Naruto wasn't awake yet so Iruka had to let himself in. He laughed a bit when he saw how cute Naruto looked in his frog hat that Jiraiya had given him long ago. Of course he had to wake up Naruto and help him figure out how these clothes worked together because it is a bit…complicated."

"Naruto!"

"Whu-AHh!"

Naruto fell off the bed and landed on his butt. He groggily got up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, squishing his chubby cheeks in the process.

"Iruka-sensei, what's with all the stuff?"

"Well I brought you your new uniform, I'll help you get dressed to show you all the stuff this uniform has. I also bought you some new kunais and shuriken. I even went out to buy you a present, except you can't open this until after you come from your team meeting okay?"

"Yaadya!"

The shirt was just a plain standard fish net long sleeve that was bright orange, he guess Iruka wanted Naruto to have something that was his signature color. Over it he wore a light gray, over-sized, elbow cuffed, zipped up hoodie that had secret compartments under the shoulders, within the cuffs, and inside the sweater. The sweater was lined down the arms, around the cuffs, on the edges of the pockets, and on the high collar that covered up to his lips in military green. Iruka had his old headband dyed the same color as Naruto's sweater. Over his underwear he wore some orange fishnet tights that matched his long sleeve one, this was covered by a pair of mid-calf light gray sweats. The sweats came with a metal string that ran up his arm which could be attached to a weapon so he can always pull one out quickly. At first he was a little confused about how it worked but with a little explanation from Iruka he managed to make it work with ease, just a little bit of chakra and the weapon sprang out. The uniform was complete with the standard issue black ninja sandals.

Naruto looked in the mirror and brought his hood up. Now only a bit of his forehead, his eyes, and his nose were visible. His bright blue orbs pierced through the mainly neutral colors of his outfit. Iruka frowned a bit, for a second he thought Naruto was ashamed of his blonde hair, but then when he really looked at Naruto's new uniform he noticed how much it looked like his father's old one and more importantly how much he looked like his father. Except his Father's collar was lower, there was no hood, and he kept his jacket open. Iruka sighed, secretly glad he didn't talk Naruto out of the high collar and hood, and he didn't want Naruto to end up getting assassinated because of his resemblance to the Fourth Hokage. Also, Naruto didn't need any more assassination attempts either.

"Alright well that's that, remember not to open the present until after your team's meeting."

Before he disappeared Iruka added quickly, "There is also a gift outside from the Hokage."

Naruto ran out and sure enough there was a large box, when he opened the box there was a beautiful orange handled katana inside it.

The Third did teach Naruto the basics of kendo at the age of ten, but he excelled at it, now he's catching up to Old Sarutobi. He smiled at the memory, it was over three years ago when the assassinations had gotten out of control and the Old Man had hired Iruka to help train Naruto a bit so that he wouldn't end up in the hospital as much. Iruka was a bit reluctant at first, he was only fourteen then, but the Hokage assigned it to him as an A-Rank mission so he accepted. Iruka empathized with the boy about not having parents so he quickly warmed up to him despite what he was grew up hearing and believing. Soon enough it was a regular schedule with them, the Hokage would teach Naruto kendo and afterwards Iruka would teach Naruto some basic taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. After a while Naruto kept asking for more challenges and they couldn't refuse him, who knows what possessed both the Hokage and Iruka to agree to Naruto's request of teaching him the shadow clone jutsu but he proved to be able to use the jutsu in the most creative ways and they were pretty durable.

The metal of the katana in his hand was lighter then what he was used to, indicating that he could infuse his chakra into the blade.

_'I'm going to have to pay back the old man for this one day.'_

Naruto strapped the katana on to the strap of his holster pack.

He locked the door of his apartment and headed towards the Academy, praying to god he wouldn't have the pink-haired kunoichi on his team.

_'At least,'_ he thought, _'I won't have to pretend to like her anymore.'_

**oOoOo**

Naruto arrived to where the new genins were told to go. No one recognized him, and he didn't blame them one bit. He could tell on their faces that they really wanted to ask who he was but he simply walked passed them, as if they didn't exist. There was one who always seemed to know who he was and she recognized him, someone he always saw in the shadows. She seemed to be happy that he was there but a bit disappointed of his change. He felt a pang when he saw the disappointment in her eyes but he shrugged it off.

It was none other than Sasuke Uchiha who questioned Naruto loud enough for everyone to here.

"Who are you? I can see that you're a Konoha Ninja from your headband but you can't be a Genin because I've never seen you before."

Naruto ignored Sasuke and walked up to the corner of the room where Hinata was sitting. He sat next to her is silence.

"G-Good morning Naruto-kun."

Her voice was just above a whisper but in the silence of the room it echoed to everyone's ears.

"Good morning Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed, she and Naruto have barley talked at all and now here he is adding chan to her name! She ducked her head and started poking her fingers together. Steam was comically bursting around her heated face.

"N-Naruto?!"

The pink haired kunoichi yelled.

"That's you, you look umm...different."

"No shit Sakura."

Everyone looked at him with wide-eyes, even Hinata. Naruto just said that; loud, prankster, sweet Naruto was being cold and rude. He didn't even add his usual –chan to Sakura's name. He was sort of acting like Sasuke minus the extreme superiority complex.

While everyone was staying quiet in shock, Iruka came in. He thought that the silence was a little strange but when he saw that all eyes were on Naruto it made sense.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka smiled, "Good Morning Naruto! I'm glad the uniform I bought you fits well."

"Yeah I really like it, thank you Iruka-sensei."

Now everyone was even more shocked. They knew Naruto and Iruka were close but they didn't think they were that close.

"Alright now everyone take your seats, it's time for me to announce the teams. Now there is one team of four because there was 10 Genin that graduated this year.

Team 8 is going to be led by Kurenai Yuhi, the members are: Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hanabi Hyuga. You're jounin is waiting in room 7.

Team 10 is led by Asuma Sartuobi; the three Genin on this team are Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akimichi. Your instructor is waiting in room 8.

Team 7 will be the group of four led by Kakashi Hatake, the members are Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuga, and Naruto Uzumaki. Your jounin should be in room 9.

"WHAT?!"

"Yes! TRUE LOVE CONQUERS ALL INO-PIG!"

"You are all dismissed."

Iruka flashed Naruto a smile, and because of Naruto's big grin his hood fell off.

He waited for Hinata and walked beside her as Team 7 made their way to room 9. They entered and there on the board was _"Meet at the training ground."_

Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and left. He didn't know why, he had decided that he wouldn't reciprocate Hinata's feelings for him, but now that he could show his true self, he decided he might as well show his feelings to who he truly likes too. Hinata blushed but surprisingly she didn't faint, the hand was so supporting and warm, she was comfortable. They eventually made it through the forests to the training ground, Naruto sat against one of the three wooden posts, Hinata sat next to him, Sasuke was sitting on a tree, and Sakura was talking to Sasuke, or at least trying too.

**oOoOo**

Three hours later the new Genin were asleep, Hinata on Naruto's shoulder, Sakura against a tree, and Sasuke on a tree branch. Kakashi poofed in the middle of the field, expecting to hear yelling, but all he saw was four sleeping young children. He cleared his throat:

"Good Morning Team 7!"

They all immediately got on their feet, but you could still see the sleep in their eyes. Kakashi had to admit they were all pretty cute kids.

"Alright, well how about we get to know each other. Why don't you guys tell me something about yourselves?"

"L-Like what Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked down to see a shy, timid girl with pupiless eyes; obviously a Hyuga. He smiled kindly at her, well at least that's what they thought he was doing, you can't really tell with that mask over his face.

"Well tell me your name, your likes, your dislikes, and your goals for the future. That should be good enough. How about you go first?"

He looked straight at the black haired kunoichi.

"W-Well my name is Hinata Hyuga. What I l-like is spending time with my twin sister Hanabi and training hard to keep her safe. What I dislike is people who b-bully me because they think I'm weak and sealing jutsus. My goal for the f-future is to protect my sister from the caged bird seal."

_'This poor girl is obviously traumatized,' _Kakashi thought.

"That's very good Hinata, I hope you grow strong so that you can protect your sister."

"A-Arigato Kakashi-sensei."

"Alright let's have the next girl on the team introduce herself."

"My name is Sakura Haruno. What I like is ummm…" Her eyes drifted to Sasuke's and Kakashi inwardly sighed. "What I dislike are people who try to get in my way!" Her eyes laid on Naruto but the boy just ignored her, in fact he didn't seem to care at all. "My dream for the future is well…" She looked at Sasuke and giggled. _'Great, another conceited kunoichi who only cares about herself and boys,_' Kakashi thought.

"Very good then," Kakashi said slightly annoyed, "Uhh…now one of the boys, umm...the black head."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. What I like is, well I don't really like anything. What I dislike is sweet things and fangirls. My goal, no my ambition, is to defeat one person." Sasuke's eyes darkened when he thought of his brother Itachi, everyone noticed except for Sakura who was just too busy staring at his face.

"Well okay then… Next the boy with the blue eyes."

_'I swear I've seen this kid before, but who is he?' _Kakashi just couldn't put his finger on it.

Naruto sighed, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like training with Iruka-oniisan and Hokage-ojiisan. I don't like people who hate me for something I don't have control over. My goal for the future is to become Hokage and protect the people I care about." His voice was serious, everyone listened intently on what he was saying. The third thing he said left them with questions.

_'Ahh so it's that kid, and he already knows about what is sealed inside him. I'm going to have to pull him aside and ask him about what he already knows. Plus he says he trained under Iruka and the Hokage, he probably knows a lot. I had no idea this kid was him, rumor has it he's loud and wears an orange jumpsuits, not only that but he barley passed the Genin Exam. Although considering how he looks now, did he decide to change? Or was it all an act?'_

"That very good Naruto ok-"

"What do you mean something you have no control over?" Sasuke demanded to know.

Naruto didn't even glance at him, "That's something I'm not going to tell you. Mind your own business bastard."

"What you say to me dead last?" Sasuke gave Naruto the famous Uchiha glare, but he seemed unfazed, which annoyed Sasuke even further.

"That's enough. As I was saying, we are to meet here tomorrow, same time. You four are dismissed."

Just like that Kakashi was gone and the four genin were left alone. Sasuke was about to go put that blonde baka in his place, but he was already gone. Sasuke didn't feel like looking for him so he just shrugged and walked away, Sakura following behind, asking if he wanted to eat lunch together.

**oOoOo**

Sakura was walking towards a bench, with her lunch box in her hand. She was hoping to be able to share lunch with Sasuke but he disappeared and she hasn't be able to find him since. She stopped and hid behind a tree when she heard someone's voice.

"N-Naruto-kun, why'd you bring me here?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you Hinata-chan! Duuhh!"

Hinata smiled when she noticed Naruto was being loud, smiling, showing his face, and his hair.

"Naruto-kun!"

Hinata hugged him without even realizing it.

"I l-like it so much better when you act this w-way!"

Naruto was blushing but he hugged Hinata back, her face started flushing when she realized what was happening, it felt like a dream.

"Sorry if I scared you Hinata, but the way I am now, is who I really am. I'm only happy like I pretended to be, when I'm around people I really care about or people who were never mean to me, like you Hinata."

"L-Like me?"

"Yeah, I always knew you were watching me Hinata. You always supported me from the shadows, but I wanted to protect you, so I pretended like I didn't know you were there! I always failed at everything when I knew you were looking at me! Don't ask me why because I can't really explain why. I always acted like a baka who couldn't do anything, but I can actually do a lot of things. I'm not some sort of genius, it takes me a long time to learn things, but I don't suck and I'm not as stupid as everyone thinks! What I'm trying to say is that I really like you Hinata and I was wondering if we could go on a date sometime and get to know each other better. Then afterwards… well… umm…" Naruto started blushing and scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

Hinata looked up only to see Naruto giving her a toothy but nervous grins. She was on the verge of fainting but somehow she just knew this wasn't a dream, so she wasn't going to allow herself too.

"I-I'd love to Naruto-kun, but w-what about Sakura-chan?"

Naruto's brow's furrowed, "Sakura? Oh right, I never liked her, in fact she annoys the hell out of me. I've only ever been amazed by you Hinata-chan!"

Naruto's small confession made Hinata's heart thump. She wanted to squeal, Naruto only ever liked _her_, _her_, shy and timid Hinata Hyuga! She was so overjoyed she started giggling.

"I'd love to go out with you Naruto-kun!" She kept on giggling and gave Naruto a beautiful smile when he looked at her strangely. Naruto felt so happy. He gave her a cheeky smile in return and even picked her up and spun her around. When he put her down they laughed for a while and even held hands as they walked away.

"Alright, we can have a date tomorrow after the team meeting!"

"S-Sure."

Sakura stepped away from the tree when she knew they were gone, she was left with a lot of emotion. She felt mad, a bit betrayed, and she even felt a little jealous.

**oOoOo**

Naruto walked Hinata home, well as close they could get to her house without being seen holding hands. Naruto had already told her that he wanted to keep her safe so they should keep the fact that they are dating a secret for a while. Hinata didn't really understand what he was keeping her safe from, but the look in his eyes told her that he wasn't ready to tell her yet. So she accepted it.

When Naruto opened his present from Iruka, there was a letter:

_Dear Naruto,_

_ Now that you are no longer my student I can finally ask you this without having to go through all these law suits. I wish to adopt you, and if you allow me too, we could live together like a family. I would really like that Naruto, but you don't have to if you don't want to. In this box there is adoption papers that I have already signed, if you allow me to adopt you, you will take them to the Hokage. I understand if you don't want to, you're probably already used to living alone. But you'll always be my otouto. Under these papers is you're present, I hope you like it._

_Love, Iruka-oniisan_

Naruto was crying when he finished reading the letter, he was going to have a real oniisan, he always considered Iruka a brother but now it was going to be for real. He took out the papers and underneath was a large gourd that could be strapped onto one's back. Naruto smiled at the present, with his affinity to water this would become extremely useful. Today was just filled with happy moments for Naruto, he couldn't have imagined a better day.

**_Edited: 9/13/2014_**


	2. A Day To Cherish

**Author's Note:**

**If you guys want, I can PM you every two or three chapters. I'm already doing that for one of my readers, so if you want a reminder as well just post a review and I'll PM you. **

**-S-**

Naruto woke up much earlier, he took the paperwork to the Hokage's office. The guards at the door looked at him oddly, they didn't recognize him, and so he walked faster before they could. Naruto knocked on the door:

"Hokage-ojiisan."

"Ahh… Naruto please come in."

Naruto came in and the Third was smiling when he saw his student's child.

"Well what are you here for Naruto?"

"I just came to drop this off for Iruka-oniisan."

The third looked at the paperwork and started crying in happiness, he was glad that Naruto was finally going to be taken into a family. He thought of Naruto as a grandson as much as he thought of Konohamaru as one, but he couldn't take him in because then people would think he is playing favorites and hate Naruto even more. That's the last thing he wanted for Naruto.

"Uhh, Ojiisan are you okay?"

"I'm fine Naruto, I'm just… I'm sure your parents would be very happy."

"Thank you Ojiisan."

Naruto left, he wanted to stay with his Ojiisan longer but he was already two hours late to the team meeting. Naruto and Hinata had already decided that Kakashi was probably going to be late to every team meeting so they knew better than to stay there to wait. Naruto walked to the bench where he and Hinata had sat the previous day. And sure enough there was Hinata waiting for him.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!"

"N-Naruto-kun!'

"Have you been waiting long? Sorry I had to drop off some papers at Hokage-ojiisan's office."

"No, honestly I just got here, but we better get going."

From the training ground some smoke appeared and out came Kakashi, Sakura yelled at him again for being late. He was about to give a terrible excuse on why he was late when two people stepped into the ground clearing.

"-and then I came home and I opened up his present and in the letter he said he was going to adopt me! So me and Iruka-oniisan are real brothers! He even gave me this gourd as a present so I can use it…"

Naruto zipped his lips as soon as he noticed that his sensei and teammates were looking at him. He pulled up his collar and pulled over his hood. He stayed silent and even let go of Hinata's hand.

"You're late, the both of you."

"Can't tell someone their late when you're just as late as them," Naruto remarked.

Okay Naruto's attitude was sort of getting on his nerves.

"Point taken, anyways let's start with the training.

Here are three bells, you are to try to take these bells from me by lunch. Whoever can't get one, will be sent back to the Academy and will be tied to one of these posts while the rest of us sit here and eat our lunch in front of them, that's why I asked you not to eat breakfast."

"E-Excuse me Kakashi-sensei, but you didn't tell us that."

Kakashi's face fell, "I didn't?"

All the Genin shook their heads. Kakashi started laughing nervously with a sweat drop on his face.

_'Well there goes my leverage.'_

"Uhh… Anyways, let the training begin!"

Naruto and Hinata automatically met on one side while Sasuke and Sakura went on the other. When Naruto and Hinata saw each other they knew what the purpose of this training was, but they also knew that they were not going to be able to join the other two. Sakura was always too absorbed in Sasuke instead of focusing on actually being a ninja. Sasuke only cared about his revenge and getting stronger, plus his superiority complex made him feel like he was obligated to be the strongest and the leader. So they decided just to work as a team with the two of them. They just needed to wait it out for a little bit. They decided all this with no verbal contact.

Sakura was walking through the forest looking for Sasuke. Kakashi was standing in the middle of the training ground, waiting to see who would strike first. He thought it would be Naruto but that wasn't what happened at all.

"Fireball Jutsu!"

Kakashi easily dodged the fireball, even with his book in his hand, much to Sasuke's annoyance. He landed in front of Kakashi and got into the Tiger Claw stance. He attacked with direct, head on, and hard kicks and punches. Kakashi was just using the Crane style, dodging every attack. Every round kick, every fast punch, and every leg sweep. He had to admit the Uchiha was good, his attacks had quite a bit of power behind them for a Genin and they were very graceful. However, he was getting tired of the game, so he made a substitution when the Uchiha "hit" him with a log nearby. Created one shadow clone and walked into the forest. Behind him you could hear:

"One Thousand Years of Death!"

And the Uchiha squealing, probably while grabbing his arse and flying into the other side of the forest.

Kakashi was walking around the forest when he heard:

"Sasuke!~

Oh Sasuke!~

I was wondering if you wanted to work together, Sasuke~"

**_"Yeah and I can show up that stupid Hinata! Hmph! Show Naruto who the better girl is!" _**thought Inner Sakura.

_"Oh god, that girl. I wonder what I'm going to do with her. At first I thought she was like Rin, fawning over the mysterious guy, but at least Rin took her ninja training seriously." _Kakashi complained to himself.

He sighed outwardly, "Alright this should be quick. I might be going a little too far on this one but then I'll be able to see how good she is at detection."

Sakura found Sasuke, his body was mangled, and his breathing was slow. She tried desperately to help him but she couldn't, all she could do was cry while cradling his head. He died while trying to speak his last words, ultimately they were left unsaid. Sakura wailed, it felt like a nightmare, and little did she know that it pretty much was. Kakashi stood several feet away from a peaceful body whose mind was in torment, he couldn't believe that she couldn't detect a genjutsu. Just what were they teaching in the Academy? Or was it that Sakura only bothered to learn what would let her pass to be with Sasuke?

Time was almost up by now and Hinata and Naruto haven't even made a move yet. Kakashi figured that they had been planning out a way to get the bells for a while, they were probably looking for him right now, and he decided he might as well make it easy for them and go to the training ground again. What Kakashi didn't know, was that this was all part of their plan.

**oOoOo**

Shortly after Kakashi left, Naruto and Hinata came out of their hiding places to help Sakura. Naruto knelt down by Sakura.

"Chakra Release."

Naruto dispelled the genjutsu but Sakura still wasn't waking up, he wasn't worried one bit but Hinata was. Hinata checked her pulse and large forehead.

"She'll be fine, her mind just needs a few minutes of rest and then she'll wake up."

Naruto nodded. Hinata and Naruto left Sakura there to rest, and made their way to where Kakashi was. Sasuke was finally reaching the training ground and was about to try to take the bells again when he noticed that Naruto was about to attempt the same thing. Sasuke figured he would just stay back and watch Naruto make a fool of himself, then he would go and take a bell, that would show the blonde baka that Uchiha Sasuke was far stronger and he could never catch up. However, that's not what ended up happening.

Naruto made his presence known on purpose and quickly went into his Panther stance. Speed was essential in this taijutsu style and it fit Naruto perfectly. The fighting style that he was about to demonstrate would later help earn Naruto the Unpredictable Blond Genius title in the future. With a kunai in his hand he ran towards Kakashi, in a blur Kakashi had a small knick on his arm. Kakashi was confused, when had that happen? In a split second Kakashi had two more small cuts, one on his back and one on his lower leg. Then three blurs appeared and he had six cuts, four blurs he had ten, and it kept increasing and increasing until he was covered with thousands of micro cuts. This all happened in a span of 5 seconds, Kakashi didn't even have time to comprehend who or what those blurs were. The next thing he knew Naruto and Hinata was standing in front of him, both grinning widely as Hinata held the bells in her hands.

Kakashi looked at the two of them and smiled_, "They understood the reason behind this training exercise."_

Sakura came out of the clearing, eyes wide with admiration, she had only been able to see about half of what happened because it took her eyes a while to be able to keep up with their speed but she saw _it_. Naruto would run pass Kakashi, cutting him with a kunai every time, when he got to the other side he would make one shadow clone and they would run pass him knicking him again. The Narutos would go to different places, make one more shadow clone and start the process over again. But the time Hinata came and took the bells quickly from Kakashi, Naruto had over 10 shadow clones coming from different directions.

Sasuke growled, he couldn't believe that the blonde baka and the timid Hyuga girl with the freaky eyes had managed to get the three bells.

_"Oh well," _Sasuke thought_, "Kakashi-sensei said that we had to take the bells from him but he never said we couldn't take the bells from other people if they have an extra."_

Sasuke slowly got up, lunging a bit, getting ready to use his speed. He ran as fast as he could towards the Hyuga girl who was still holding the bells in accomplishment. However, he wasn't fast enough to not alert Naruto's sense. Naruto quickly made his way behind Hinata, in a speed that couldn't be seen by the human eye without a sort of bloodline limit. He positioned himself in an Elephant stance and with one hand he grabbed Sasuke's reached out arm -he was trying to grab the bells from behind- and flipped Sasuke's body to the side, slamming it on the ground. He would have thrown him behind, but Naruto didn't want to hurt anybody, except for well, Sasuke. Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the collar and dragged him to the post where he tied him up with the rope Kakashi brought, which so happen to cut off chakra.

Somewhere between the flipping and the tying up, Naruto's hood fell and his collar opened, revealing what he'd been hiding, even though everyone knew what was there. However his face seemed so different to Sakura. His hair was still golden blonde, his eyes were still cerulean and gleamed like diamonds, his six whiskers still seemed soft, and his mouth was still pink and plump. However his hair seemed to droop a bit, his eyes looked dull, his whiskers frowned, and his mouth was thinned into a line. He looked so serious and composed, but not like Sasuke. It didn't suit Naruto to her, in fact her heart even whimpered a little. She knew that Naruto said to Hinata that he only acted happy before, but now he was going to be cold to everyone except for those he cared about. Even though his crush on Sakura was a lie, didn't he care about her to some extent?

**oOoOo**

When Sasuke finally regained his composure he noticed that he was tied to a post, his body hurt, Sakura was tied to the post across from him, and the other three were eating lunch silently.

"Ahh, so he's finally composed himself."

It was Kakashi who said that, but Sasuke ignored him expertly, he was too busy glaring holes at Naruto, who didn't even seem to notice.

"You," Sasuke growled, "your nothing but a baka. How in the hell did you get a bell?"

Naruto didn't even look his way.

"And what the hell was that fighting style you were using? Answer me, dead last."

Naruto answered Sasuke without moving, "Why do I have to answer to you? Someone who couldn't even figure out the true purpose behind this test. Tch, and they call you a genius."

"Watch what you same to me dead last!"

"Yeah, leave Sasuke alone Naruto!"

Kakashi shook his head in shame. Sakura still wasn't taking this seriously. He was just about to lecture them both when Naruto turned and stood up. He was glaring daggers at Saskue and Sakura, Sakura was shaking under the stare, and even the Uchiha seemed a little shaken up at the slit red eyes.

_"__And why should I listen to either one of you! You two call yourself ninjas. Sasuke, you think you're the best of the best! But you're just another fucking loser! Your superiority complex is what caused you to fail today! Your 'I'm better then you attitude' isn't going to get you anywhere!__** You think that just because you're an Uchiha that automatically makes you better! But you haven't even activated your sharingan! There's always someone better Sasuke! I'm better then you and there's someone better than me that's just how it is! Your so blind to the truth; the truth that you're weak!**_

**_Sakura, you're the weakest kunoichi I've ever seen, shit, at least Ino has her mind transfer jutsu! But you, you couldn't even tell that you were under the effects of a genjutsu! What were all those high grades for eh Sakura?! Were they just to show your 'precious' Sasuke that you were fucking smart?! Oh and there's also the fact that you're so absorbed in Sasuke that you don't even take your training seriously! Keep caring more about your Uchiha genius then your training and you'll end up dying on your first mission, stupid girl!_**

**_Do you want to know what the purpose of this exam was?! It was teamwork, but you two are so self-absorbed you couldn't even fucking see it! You two are pa-the-tic!"_** Naruto went from husky lecturing, to growling, to snarling.

Hinata wasn't afraid, because there was truth to his words, and she knew that these people caused him to suffer emotionally. What she was truly worried about was the red chakra and killing intent that was seeping out of Naruto. Kakashi could tell that Naruto was subconsciously tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra, but he didn't know what to do. Naruto on the other hand took a deep breath and walked away, knowing he had to calm down.

_"I'll prove to you that I'm not weak! I'll learn that style you were using and I'll perfect it and be better. I'll show you whose weak Naruto!" _Sasuke inwardly yelled.

Kakashi looked at Naruto as he was retreating_, "When I agreed to take on the team with the top and dead last of the class I didn't expect for it to end up like this. The Uchiha is supposed to be a genius, but Naruto is a genius as well, and not just a genius of hard work. I wonder if he could beat a Nara at a shogi game? He does seem like a 'thinks of a brilliant plan while in battle' kid."_

Hinata gave Kakashi a look, pleading him to allow her to check on Naruto. He simply nodded and the girl just ran off, leaving dust behind.

"Although Naruto's approach was rather...excessive, there is great truth behind his words. Sakura, you need to take your training more seriously or else you'll end up getting gravely injured. And Sasuke if you want to grow in ranks to be able to take on more serious missions to increase your strength, you need to get over you superiority complex. Nobody wants to be led or stay loyal to a leader who thinks they are better than everyone, especially if they happen to have the same problem."

Both Sasuke and Sakura were seriously considering Naruto's and Kakashi's words. With a satisfied grin Kakashi left them alone. It took them several minutes to realize that they were alone, they were hungry, and they were tied to posts. Their anger slowly increased as each realization came to mind.

""!KAKASHI-SENSEI!""

From his house Kakashi sneezed:

"Is someone talking about me...Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?"

oOoOo

Naruto had stormed out of the training ground. He needed to calm down, the last thing he needed right now was to lose his cool, he refused to do it in front of Hinata and Kakashi-sensei. But god did those two really tick him off, he could tell that both of them could become really powerful, possibly even evolve to Sannin was strange for Naruto, he always cared for people no matter their faults, because he knew how it was like to be judge just because of who you are, who they think you are, and what you do. However, there was something about them that really bothered him.

Was it the way they used to talk about him? No, it wasn't, he knew he would be able to forgive anyone, since they were raised to believe he was the scum of the earth. Forgiving full grown adults though-not the people who were kids at the time of the attack-that would be a little harder to do. So it had nothing to do with that.

He was interrupted from his deep thoughts when he finally realized that someone had been patiently walking beside him, staring at him. He smiled when he saw who she was.

"Hey Hinata-chan!"

oOoOo

Hinata walked out to the clearing and headed towards Naruto, he was so deep in thought, he didn't even notice her. Hinata is a patient child so she just walked by him in silence. Just being close to him made her happy. She looked at his face while she walked by his side. His face looked impassive but his eyes revealed his thoughts. Although to others his eyes would have seem bored, Hinata could read all his thoughts, he was a book to her.

"Hey Hinata-chan!"

Hinata jumped a little when Naruto called her, she was too busy being absorbed into the core of his being.

"H-Hello Naruto-kun."

She was blushing madly, being caught staring at him was a bit embarrassing for poor Hinata. Naruto grabbed her hand and gave her a cheeky smile when Hinata looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"It's time for our date!"

Hinata giggled, how could she forget that today she was finally going to spend time with her crush?

"O-Okay."

Naruto led Hinata to the top of the Hokage Mountain. On the fourth's head there was a red picnic blanket and a brown straw basket. Naruto led her to the blanket and gestured her to sit down while he took the food out of the basket. Hinata smiled and felt her face starting to burn when he kept pulling out containers of home cooked meals.

She didn't think he would do so much just for their first date. Honestly, she would have been happy with a simple bowl of ramen. Hinata started poking her fingers together.

"Naruto-kun, did you make all t-this yourself?"

Naruto looked at her with a small smile and soft eyes, there was even a small blush creeping on his cheeks. He twiddled with his thumbs, Hinata almost giggled at how cute Naruto looked when doing his nervous habit.

"Y-Yeah, I had Iruka-oniisan go and buy me groceries so I could. I know I eat a lot of ramen, but I know how to cook too. Hokage-ojisan and Iruka-oniisan taught me because they said that if I ate too much ramen it would be bad for me."

Hinata smiled, he went through so much trouble just for her, and she knew this wasn't a dream but it sure did feel like one to her. However, there was a thought tugging her away from her dream life. It was the thought that Naruto had to send Iruka-sensei to buy him groceries. Why couldn't he go himself? Did it have something to with all the ugly stares Hinata would see people give him? Did both of these things have to do with what Naruto wasn't ready to tell her yet? Hinata shook her head, clearing her thoughts, she didn't want to ruin the date with these thoughts. Besides Naruto would tell her when he was prepared to.

Naruto did notice that Hinata had this look of distaste on, at first he thought he did something wrong, but there was a distant look in her eyes as well. Letting Naruto know that she was lost in her own thoughts. He was staring at her and she caught him when she snapped back to reality, they both blushed.

"T-Thank you Naruto-kun."

He looked back at her, she seemed so sincere, and she was glowing with happiness.

"F-For w-hat Hinata-chan?"

"For going through all this trouble, for me..."

Naruto gave Hinata that big goofy grin that she loved so much and said, "No problem Hinata-chan! I-I'd do anything for people like you."

Hinata blushed, it wasn't exactly a compliment for her, but she blushed nonetheless. They ate together, joked around, smiled, flirted a bit, and enjoyed each other's company. By the time they both realized it, they had been together since one in the afternoon and it was now sundown.

"Oh jeez Hinata-chan, I'm sorry I didn't mean to keep you from doing things all day."

"N-No it's okay Naruto-kun, I wouldn't have had much to do anyways."

"Hahaha, well from what you told me you and your sister hang out a lot together! I'm sure she was pretty lonely without you!"

"W-Well not really, w-whenever one of us are two busy w-we train."

Naruto looked at Hinata, "You really amaze me Hinata. You're the oldest out of the both of you and the shyest but you're trying so hard to protect your sister from the cage bird seal by acting like a failure. I guess me and you have a lot more in common than we thought."

"You're right Naruto-kun, but p-please don't tell anyone."

Naruto took Hinata's hand, "I promise, but promise me we'll train together sometime and that during a mission you won't endanger yourself by acting weak, okay?"

_"Naruto-kun is worried about me."_ Hinata thought and blushed just a bit.

"I promise!"

Hinata practically yelled in Naruto's face and he pulled back a bit, but after seeing the fire in her eyes he gave her a smile that forced his eyes closed. With the hand he was still holding he pulled up Hinata and started packing the blanket away. He finished and wiped the dust off his pants.

"Alright! Let's go walk you home!"

As she walked by his side Naruto told her one of his stories of when he used to train with Iruka-sensei and Hokage-sama. The way he told stories was so lively she couldn't help but smile and laugh. When they got as closest as they could get to Hinata's house, they both stood there, both not wanting to leave.

"Well I guess I should be going now."

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah Hinata-chan?"

"Do you think that Team 7 will always be this hostile towards each other?"

"No, I don't think so Hinata-chan, I know we won't be close. Well you, me, and Sakura might but Sasuke's got his own agenda. All I know is that if we don't build at least some team chemistry this team won't get anywhere. But I also know that even though I may not like all of our teammates, I'll protect everyone with my life."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata smiled, "I know that you'll become Hokage."

Naruto's face flushed, he was only used to being complimented by Iruka-sensei and Hokage-ojisan.

"T-Thank y-you Hinata-chan.

Well I'll see you tomorrow Hinata-chan!"

Before he ran off, Naruto gave Hinata a quick kiss on the cheek. For the first time in two days, Hinata was feeling extremely light-headed. She barely managed to get through the door before she fainted. Hanabi heard a thump on the floor and went to investigate when she saw her sister on the floor. She was very worried until she saw the deep blush on her face and heard her murmur:

"N-Naruto-kun k-kissed me-e o-on the chee-ek."

Hanabi chuckled a bit, her sister was finally getting the boy she's been crushing on forever. It took Hanabi a lot of effort to get Hinata into her room and on her bed. Hinata looked like she was on cloud nine when Hanabi looked at her face. Hanabi smiled at her sister, it was nice to see her so happy and not a nervous wreck. Hanabi snuggled up to her sister on the bed.

_"Don't worry Hinata-onechan I won't let them put the bird cage seal on you, when I become the heir, I'll make sure to get rid of that horrible cage seal, on Neji-itoko too. I'll protect all of you."_

Hinata and Hanabi fell asleep soundly next two each other, like the sisters they are.

oOoOo

Naruto too was sleeping soundly, after telling Iruka-sensei and Hokage-ojiisan about how his day, he noticed he was so tired. Iruka-sensei and Hokage-ojisan were proud that he and Hinata-chan caught on to Kakashi-sensei's test so early on. According to them, Team 7 was the first team to pass his exam. This really was one of the few days that Naruto will cherish with all his heart.

**_Updated: September 24, 2014_**


	3. The C-Rank Mission

**Author's Note:**

**And I finally got this up. In all honesty I think this chapter is a little strange and I'm not very satisfied with it, so tell me what you guys think, it would be much appreciated. Until next time.**

**-S-  
>-<strong>

Over the course of a few weeks Team 7 practiced and completed D-rank missions, while Sakura and Sasuke both worked on improving themselves.

As they practiced Sasuke and Sakura saw, for the first time, what a genius really was.

Hinata excelled in speed, she was precise whenever she aimed for chakra points, the movements seemed natural to her and she looked oh so graceful whenever she moved. But Naruto knew that Hinata had failed many times before.

Naruto was not a show off, he carried the katana and gourd with him, but never, had he showed his skills with them during practice. It's not like he had too anyways, with his taijutsu, he was almost unbeatable, for he didn't use only one taijutsu style. He used both the Panther and the Snake style, together they are considered Phoenix style. Taijutsu was the only thing Naruto used at team practice, he really wasn't one to show off, but Hinata knew how many years it took him to not only learn both styles, but to be able to combine them smoothly.

However, just because their teammates were so out of reach, that didn't stop Sasuke and Sakura from trying their best. Sasuke saw Naruto as his rival, as did Sakura to Hinata; they constantly pushed themselves so that they could prove who better one day was. Despite all the rivalries, their team chemistry really did improve. They were no longer hostile towards each other, but didn't talk unless it was absolutely necessary. Sakura still pestered Sasuke for dates and still cared about how she looked, but she took her training much more serious now and wouldn't even look at Sasuke during missions. Sasuke no longer saw Naruto as someone less than him, he even stopped calling him dead last. Instead, he saw him as somebody to test his strength against, a worthy rival indeed.

There was something about Team 7 that put all the other teams on edge, especially Team 10. Because Kakashi and Asuma are good friends, the teams had practiced together a few times. Well it was more like Team 10 practiced while Team 7 just watched. Naruto would talk very loudly to his team, but when he would notice something that Team 10 could approve on, he would bring the other members of his team into a conversation about it. Then either Sasuke would arrogantly tell them what they should improve on and how they could improve it or Sakura would go and tell Ino. Ino would try to get Sakura in an argument over Sasuke, but she'd would smile and skip away every time.

It was strange how well Team 7 got along in Team 10's eyes, especially in Shikamaru's eyes. When he heard who the members of Team 7 were; he expected a lot of bickering, a lot of beatings for Naruto, and a lot of fainting. But they were the complete opposite. Not only that, but whenever they did practice in front of Team 10 they were absolutely terrible. Naruto failed, Hinata failed, Sasuke did everything well, and Sakura would stare at Sasuke with hearts in her eyes but would never really do anything. And they wouldn't say anything either. However, Shikamaru swears that he sees a glimmer of entertainment in each of their eyes. As if their plan was working out, as if their team front was a lie, as if they were some sort of conspiracy that they would never allow to be made public unless it was in their favor.

Team 7 was mysterious indeed, and that made the other teams shudder every time they saw them.

**oOoOo**

The Hokage was smiling brightly when he saw his favorite Genin team walk into his office. They were obviously here for a new mission.

"Hokage-ojiisan!"

Sarutobi could not help but smile and laugh when Naruto hugged him so tightly. Even though he just saw him yesterday, Naruto greeted him so warmly every time. When Kakashi coughed, reminding Naruto that they came on official business, Naruto quickly released his ojisan and composed himself into a serious ninja.

"We are here to receive our mission Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi pulled out a sheet of paper.

"Oh yes, this one is quite simple really, it is a request to help cleaning up Mrs.-"

The Hokage stopped when he felt the negative energy in the room. By the look on the four Genins faces-even though you could only see a bit of Naruto's-they were annoyed of the quality of the missions. And if there was one thing the Hokage didn't like, it was seeing the boy he considered his mago, as well as the citizens he was sworn to protect, unhappy.

He sighed, "You know, Team 7 has completed the most missions out of all the teams, plus I'm well aware of your skills and how you've been improving. Therefore, I think a sort of promotion is in order. I'll be giving you a C-rank mission today."

**oOoOo**

Kakashi could not understand how he ended up in the position he was in. He and his team were on the way to leave the village for a C-rank mission! Like seriously a C-rank mission for a new batch of Genin! It was ridiculous. He was going to object to the idea but the Hokage gave him that look, so he kept his mouth shut, and now here he was. It wouldn't bother him so much if they weren't so god damn quiet. This team of his was beginning to bore him, they took things much too seriously.

Then again he did have this strange feeling that his client, the bridge builder named Tazuna, was keeping something from them.

**oOoOo**

The group of six was walking along a path when Naruto and Hinata saw that there was a puddle on the floor ahead of them. They looked at each other and nodded. Kakashi also noticed the puddle, but didn't say anything in hopes to see if his team has improved to such a level. He saw that Naruto and Hinata had already acknowledged the puddle, and from the look on Naruto's eyes, he was already quickly forming a strategy

_"__I wanna see how this works out," _Kakashi thought.

Just before they walked up to the puddle, Hinata stopped them from continuing but Naruto went on ahead and there was a sudden orange flash. No one even noticed what happened, all they saw was Naruto's hand on the handle of his katana, and two men appearing from nowhere. Kakashi was impressed. Naruto was very skilled with his katana.

Then some kunais were flying towards them and Kakashi instinctively pushed his team back, but before he could even attempt to deflect the kunai he heard a sudden swipe. The kunais were cut into half and fell to the ground.

"I won't let you hurt my friends, Demon Brothers."

Naruto practically spat at the figures in front of him. The two me just chuckled.

"Hey Gozu, this blue-eyed brat is pretty good."

"You right about that Mizu, this might have actually be fun, but were aren't after you brats."

The brothers quickly control the gauntlets so that it would wrap up Kakashi and killed him in seconds. Naruto and the other Genins were terrified. However, Naruto recovered quickly and pulled out his katana in one swift move. The blade gleamed and the orange handle glowed.

"Kakashi-sensei, come out already!"

Naruto growled in annoyance when his sensei appeared. The other Genin seemed relieved that their sensei was in fact not dead, but then were bothered by the fact that they didn't not recognize the substitution jutsu as quickly as Naruto had. Just showing them how much they still had to improve.

"I'm very impressed Naruto, your skill with the katana is flawless and your jutsu sensing capabilities is superb."

Naruto could sense the negativity coming off of his teammates, the obviously felt inferior to him and he didn't like that's, they were a team; they are supposed to be equals. So he quickly put away his katana and don't even look at his team.

"I just had to train a little earlier that's all Kakashi-sensei. I know that my team members would be on the same level as me if they would have had to train early."

And again Naruto's words just confused his team members: Why did Naruto have to start training as a ninja early in his life? However, another feeling came with Naruto's words, a feeling of admiration from Sakura and Hinata; for Naruto did my boast. And a feeling of grudging respect from Sasuke, the dobe sure did recognize everyone as equals, even when they obviously weren't.

The Demon Brothers were no longer able to stay quiet.

"Hey Mizu, I think it's time we start."

"You're probably right about that Gozu."

Naruto glared at the two men, he so wanted to rip them to shreds, and he easily could too. He already had his hand on his katana. But he took a deep breath, released his hold on his katana, and stepped back. Again, without looking back, he spoke to his fellow members.

"You know what you guys, I'm kinda tired, Imma take a nap under that tree while you handle these guys. With your skills, it should be a breeze!"

Sasuke mouth turned just a bit, "Tired from just two lousy swipes, you're such a loser."

Naruto was already walking away and just waved off Sasuke's comment. Sasuke smirked, he still found that his insults and glares had no effect on Naruto whatsoever, and it still bothered him but something else came with it too, a feeling he couldn't quite place. Sasuke grabbed a kunai from his pouch.

"Now, let's show you two how the rest of Team 7 works."

Now, one would say that two Chunnin-leveled ninjas could easily take down three Genin, however this was Team 7.

Hinata activated her byakugan and with blinding speed, easily took down one opponent. She smiled at her handiwork and turned around to join Kakashi, Tazuna, and Naruto under the tree. Now it was Sakura and Sasuke's turn to take down Gozu. Which they had a little more trouble with.

Sasuke threw some shuriken that were covered in flames. Sakura castes a jutsu that caused the one brothers to sink into the ground-she had recently discovered that her chakra affinity was to earth. But the earth went soggy and the shuriken flames died out, the brother ended up being a water clone. They both heard a chain swinging in the air and dodged just before the gauntlet could chain either of them. Then an idea popped in Sasuke's head.

**"Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!"**

He activated his level-one Sharingan and achieved in distracting his opponent.

"W-What this is the Uchiha genius brat?"

Sakura had gotten the hint:

**"Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"**

And with one swift kick to the head, the Chunnin was knocked out. Although neither would want to admit it, they were pretty worn out from the fight, mainly because Sasuke had just activated his Sharingan for the first time but he also jutsus and Sakura had used to ninjutsu as well. That plus they had been walking for hours; they were indeed physically tired.

Both look over and say that their sensei was giving them an eye smile in approval, but what both really wanted to see was the gleam of pride in Naruto's eyes. They had been acknowledged from the genius of hard work himself.

Hinata did notice the two looks Sasuke and Sakura wore when Naruto looked at them proudly. But there was something behind their eyes that was irking her just a bit.

A determination to get his acknowledgment.

**oOoOo**

After they took a short break they tied up the Demon Brothers. Kakashi summoned Biscuit so he could send a letter to the leaf to ask if they could send people to retrieve the two. They group of six were just about to start walking when a kunai popped out Naruto's and he threw it were it stuck on to a branch up to the hilt.

"That was certainly thrown to kill," Kakashi observed.

"Naruto-kun, what did you see over there?" (A/N: Hinata lost her studder! WhoooHooooo!)

Naruto just kept looking at the branch, "Someone was there, they've been watching us the entire time. I'm pretty sure that they were planning to let go of the Demon Brothers, but because she knows that I know we have another enemy, she won't make a move. At least, not until later."

"Ahh…I see, very clever Naruto. You didn't just have your friends fight the two demon brothers so that they could feel better. You did it so that you wouldn't reveal your skills to the enemy. Very clever, and just a bit manipulative. However, this does mean that I will have to train them when we get to the Land of Waves." Kakashi speculated.

Sasuke was annoyed not only did this baka have great kendo skills and taijutsu skills, he has great sensory skills too!

"How did you sense them?"

Naruto's eyes quickly drifted to Sasuke but then they locked on to the branch again. He wasn't really sure how he should answer the question.

"...It's something that was passed on to me."

That's all, that's all he was going to say on the subject. He had to quickly change the subject before his teammates asked any other questions. So, he turned to his sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei this is supposed to be a simple C-rank escort mission, but those two Chunnin-level ninjas were obviously after him. So that would make it a B-rank mission, but there's still more people coming after him and odds are the one who was on the branch is working for someone too. That makes two more people to worry about, and not just that, but the one they are going to report to is probably a Jounin-level ninja. In other words, this will probably end up being an A-Rank mission when we were only prepared and paid for a C-Rank mission."

"Okay, exactly what have Hokage-sama and Iruka been teaching this boy," Kakashi coughed his thoughts away, "Yes Naruto, you are correct. We aren't being paid sufficiently enough for this mission, therefore, technically we have no reason whatsoever to protect Tazuna and probably end up being severely injured or killed."

Tazuna was shocked, that blonde brat had figured it all out. (His hood fell off when we was fighting and he pulled it up when he took a nap under the tree.) Oh well, time for him to start guilt tripping them.

"Well you guys can do that and I'll end up being killed and my poor grandson and daughter will disgrace-"

He was interrupted by a really hard hot on his head. He turned to see Naruto placing his katana sheath in the right place with a tick on his forehead.

_**"You really thought we would leave you here to die! Just who do you think we are! We are leaf ninja and we would never abandon a client! Especially if it is one who comes from a poor land!"**_

Everyone was a little bit afraid of Naruto at this point, he hasn't gotten angry at all since the bell test. And they did not enjoy seeing his blue eyes turn red and getting that ominous feeling again.

Naruto took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"T-thank you but how did you know about the economic state of where I live?"

Naruto looked down to the floor, "We passed by the village to get some water, me and Hokage-ojisan, when we were on our way to board a ship so I could meet the Mizukage."

Sakura was confused, "Why were you meeting the Mizukage Naruto?"

"That's classified information," Naruto stated simply.

Now Kakashi knew he had to do something before Naruto's teammates attacked him with questions. He interrupted just when Sasuke was about to open his mouth.

"That's enough, if it is classified then it is classified. Naruto wants to continue with this mission despite the fact that we've been lied to, do you all agree with him?"

They all nodded in unison.

"Alright then let's get going. Naruto and Hinata with your sensory skills you will be protecting Tazuna from behind. Sakura will protect from the left and Sasuke the left. I will protect from the front. Is that a clear?"

The all grunted in agreement.

"Good, now let's go."

**oOoOo**

Someone with a mask appeared in a cave not very far from the Land of Waves.

"Zabuza, I have arrived."

"Haku, where are the Demon Brothers?"

"I'm afraid they were captured by the leaf ninja."

"Really? How pathetic, I thought they were only Genin!"

"They were gifted Genin, we at least two of them were. One, has the byakugan and was extremely skilled with the Gentle Fist for someone her age, also she didn't have a seal so I suspect she is one of the heiresses to the clan."

"Really? Then we will only capture that one, we could get some good money off of her. What about the other one?"

"I didn't get much information on him, but he's very skilled with the katana and has sensory skills. He knew I was there the entire time and easily saw through the Demon Brother's puddle disguise."

"Heh, so he thinks he's good with the sword, well I'm going to have a little fun with that brat. I can easily pick out the Hyuga Princess but how does the one look like?"

"Well he covers his hair with a big hood and half of his face with a high collar, but when his hood fell off... He kind of looked like... The Hokage, the one you described to me when you talked about the war between the Stone and the Leaf."

"The Yodaime Hokage? But that shouldn't be possible..."

"I might be mistaken."

"Yes, you might be. What about their Jounin instructor, do you know who he might be?"

"He did nothing and his face was masked."

"Well that sounds familiar, I'll know it when I see him. I want you to observe their skills for a little while longer and be sure not to get caught this time."

"Of course Zabuza."

**oOoOo**

Team 7 plus their mission arrived at a small house at the edge of town. They entered the house and were greeted warmly by a beautiful raven-haired women.

"Welcome ninja from the Leaf and thank you for protecting my father. My name is Tsunami and this is my son Inari."

Tsunami ruffled Inari's hair as she introduced him.

Naruto stepped up and bowed, "Thank you for allowing us to stay with you Tsunami-san and Inari-chan."

The others followed his lead a bowed as well. Who knew Naruto could be so respectful?

Tsunami giggled at the honorifics, "Please, there no need to add something to the end of my name, but if you must and since you are going to be staying here for a while anyways you can use -chan instead. Now why don't you come in and introduce yourselves to me and Inari."

"Actually we have quite a bit to do and we liked to get settled quickly, not that we don't want to talk or anything Tsunami."

Kakashi quickly added the end part so she would take no offense.

"It quite alright. But you have to at least tell me your names."

Naruto took the lead, it's not that they didn't want to talk, they were just really tired.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. The blue haired kunoichi is my girlfriend and her name is Hinata Hyuga. The pink haired kunoichi is named Sakura Haruno. The other guy with the cold aurora is Sasuke Uchiha. And our sensei's name is Kakashi Hatake."

Everyone, except Sakura's, ears perked up when they heard the world girlfriend come out of Naruto's mouth. Hinata started her old habits again, pushing her fingers together while trying to make herself invisible. Sakura looked rather annoyed, Kakashi and Sasuke were asking themselves of how they didn't notice when all the signs were there, and Tsunami was squealing of how kawaii they look together.

"Well isn't that just adorable! And it's very nice to meet you all. Inari, can you show them all to their rooms?"

As Inari showed them to their rooms, he noticed that they were awfully quiet.

"Why are you guys so quiet?"

"A ninja is supposed to be stealthy," Naruto remarked.

"Still, that doesn't matter in the end, everyone ends up dead in the end anyways."

Sakura looked at Hinata and Hinata looked back at Sakura, obviously this kid has some problems. Sasuke ignored what the kid said, in fact he was off in his own world, thinking about what the team was going to do while they were here, other than protecting the bridge builder. Naruto felt a little bothered, but didn't let it get to him, he knew the kid was probably suffering from something that happened in his past.

"Well, here's your rooms," Inari said as he left them to be.

Kakashi turned to his team and gave them an eye smile.

"Okay team, once we're all settled we are to meet outside of the house to start some training. I don't know if you two, Naruto and Hinata, have already learned this or not. But if you have, then I have some jutsu scrolls that you can learn meanwhile you protect Tazuna, just tell me the nature of your chakra."

"Well mine is water, like Naruto-kun's."

And finally the question of what Naruto's gourd was filled with was answered.

"Well that's great, you guys can practice together, and if Naruto already knows some of these, he can help you. Now let's unpack."

In thirty minutes they all met up in front of the house and quietly walked over to the forest. They stopped by some very tall chairs.

"Okay team, today we are going to be tree climbing."

Sakura arched her brow, "Tree climbing?"

"Yes, without using hands."

Kakashi demonstrated as he said these words. Sakura, Hinata, and Sasuke couldn't help but stare in awe.

"Now, Hinata, you might be able to master this pretty quickly because of your Gentle Fist, since it requires very precise chakra control. Sakura, you also might get this pretty quickly, you chakra control is almost as skilled as Hinata's. I suspect Naruto has already gotten this down, it probably took him awhile because of his large chakra reserves. As for Sasuke, this might take you a while actually.

Naruto, would you like to show me that you can do this?"

For once, Naruto decided that he will show off just a bit, he wants to give his team something to strive for after all. He picked out the tallest tree in the center and in five second flat made his way up the tree. Even Kakashi was surprised, he didn't think Naruto would have such great chakra control with both his and the Kyuubi's large amount of chakra.

"That was perfect Naruto."

Naruto jumped down branch to branch until he was at level with the other trees.

"No offense Kakashi-sensei, but I don't really want to practice any new jutsus right now, but I am going to practice water control. So I think I'm just going to stay up here and catch them when they fall."

Kakashi simply nodded, he knew what Naruto was trying to say, that they were being watched. Probably by the person who were watching them earlier. And so that's how the day went, Naruto would us different water jutsus-but nothing to fancy-to keep them from falling to the floor. Kakashi was right when he said Hinata and Sakura would get it rather quickly. Sasuke was the only one towards the end who was struggling while Sakura and Hinata just practiced some earth and water jutsus. Every now and then Naruto would use the water from his gourd to bring him down and give a few pointers to the girls. He'd go right back up though. At one point Sasuke went up to Hinata, and Naruto couldn't help but listen carefully to the situation.

"Hey, Hinata. Can you use your byakugan and tell me what I'm doing wrong?"

Hinata didn't know how to answer. This was something only her and Naruto did, it was silly but it was just one of those little things they liked to keep between themselves. Naruto was feeling the same as Hinata, it was their thing and there was a silent promise that no one else would be brought in.

"Uh-uh…I'm sorry Sasuke but I think that it would be better if you learned on your own, maybe ask for a few pointers. I-It would be better for you."

Sasuke was actually surprised, he never really noticed Hinata before, but usually every girl would die if it would help him and Hinata completely rejected. He was sort of desperate, so he did something very unlike himself. He flipped his hair and even smirked a bit.

"Come on Hinata, I could really use your help."

His voice was low and smooth, but it had no effect on Hinata. Which bothered him, he knew she was with Naruto but he didn't think she actually liked the dobe. That was when it hit him, some memories he had never really paid attention to. Hinata never looked at him, she always looked at Naruto, she wasn't one of his fan girls, and she was devoted entirely to Naruto. Sasuke's realization gave him a new respect to the pale-eyed kunoichi.

Suddenly Sasuke felt numb in his shoulders and a sharp pain on his back. It took him a few seconds to notice that one: he was pushed against a tree, two: the chakra in his arms was stopped, and three: the one who did this was none other than the Hyuga Princess.

Sakura went running up to Sasuke. She turned and attempted to glare at Hinata.

"What you do that for Hinata?!"

"His face was too close to mine! I don't want him to be my first kiss!"

Realization hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks, while he was thinking about Hinata and her devotion, his face involuntarily went closer to Hinata's and he probably looked like he was trying to kiss her. He became surprised that Naruto wasn't the one who hit him. When he looked up he saw Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in frustration but his lips curled into a small smirk. Satisfaction obviously shown on his face.

"Gomen Hinata, that's not what I meant to do. Gomen, gomen."

He was apologizing from his spot on the floor, he hadn't moved an inch since he landed there. Hinata hardened features eventually soften.

"Apology accepted Sasuke. If you want to be able to use your chakra again just push chakra threw your arms."

Sasuke looked at her with such confusion on his face, letting Hinata know that he didn't know what the heck she was talking about. Hinata sighed and walked up to him, pressed random points on his shoulders and arms and walked away.

"Alright well I think that's enough training today. Me and the girls will go back and check on the bridge builder, we will probably help with dinner too. Naruto, you help Sasuke with his training, I'll send one of the girls by later to bring you two back."

Kakashi surprised them when he spoke, everyone forgot he was there. Naruto nodded from his high branch.

"Oh and Naruto, don't forget to be polite."

Kakashi gave Naruto an eye smile and quickly pushed the girls out of the woods before any of them could comment. Naruto turned to Sasuke:

"Just keep doing what you were doing, but remember the chakra is the same for every step, not any less and not anymore."

Sasuke was about to say a sarcastic comment but for some reason it's been getting harder for him to do so. Instead he bit his tongue and just nodded. Naruto made a shadow clone quickly and it jumped away.

A young man with long black hair was sitting on a branch when he felt a cold blade against his knew.

"Now, you wanna tell me why you've been watching us?"


	4. Review Reponse (Not A Chapter)

**Author's Note:**

**I'm finally going to be responding to my reviews!**

**Chapter 1-**

**shadow-hunter104:**

_Thanks for that. I actually thought you guys would be mad at me for giving so little info._

**misao97:**

_Thank you! I'll keep on updating I promise!_

**Darkbeau:**

_Yeah I was going for a more Shino look. Just because I love Shino! In fact at some point in the story I'm going to make Shino and Naruto besties! Oh and sorry about the grammar things. I don't really check it unless its obvious that it's spelled wrong or it should be put in a different way or whatever. I need an editor. You should be my editor, you'll get first dibs on the chapter ;D_

_The main reason why I visioned Naruto with clothes similar to Shino's is because it represent that they are hiding something that is a part of them. Something that they are afraid other people will judge them for. With Shino it's his bugs, because most people are disturbed by bugs and harboring them in your body isn't going to attract many people to stick around. (Hah, see what I did there... No?) That's why i absolutely HATE that Kishimotot has Naruto forget Shino so easily. I mean SERIOUSLY, Naruto hasn't had friends his entire life, there is absolutely NO FUGGING WAY he is going to forget the name of one of the first people who had accepted him as he was. IT'S ABSURD AND I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT NARUTO WOULD ACTUALLY FORGET ONE OF HIS FRIEND'S NAME OR EVEN THE NAME OF SOMEONE WHO CONSIDERS HIM A FRIEND BECAUSE COME ONE NARUTO PRETTY MUCH WANTS TO BE FRIEND WITH EVERYBODY IN THE UNIVERSE!_

_~ *ahem* ~ Anyways, back to the point hear. Naruto is trying to hide his parentage and his easily recognizable whiskers. In other words, he is trying to hide the fact that he looks a lot like the fourth Hokage and has whiskers like a fox._

_It's a metaphor you guys._

**Kingkakashi:**

_Honestly, if I would of kept my original format. Which is 1,000 or more words each chapter, you wouldn't of gotten this fluffiness until chapter 4. But I got to into it and just kept writing, and writing, and writing! SO yeah, thank my genius xD (See what I did there.)_

**Roguing Sawk:**

_I felt like it was something she really needed to hear. To show what she could have had if she had not been such a jerk. It's not like I hate Sakura, sometimes she just really annoys me. Also I ship Naruhina but I also find that I like Naruto with just about anyone. xD_

**Guest:**

_I will update I just can't promise about the hole soon thing. With my other fan fic and my AP Classes I barley have time. But because I finally put up a chapter for my Black Butler fan fic I can start on this fan fic chappie. YAY!_

**moonangel511:**

_Yeah, I can't wait to see what else I have planned for him either. (No seriously, I have almost no idea where I want to go with this. So much for planning ahead right?) Oh and suggestions are appreciated._

**MYK-On:**

_Thank you. I have seen a few fan fics where Naruto is secretly a genius. I find them rather enjoyable, but at the same time they change his sunny personality way too much. So I reserved his dorky smile and bright blue eyes for the people he loves. (Cheesy, I know.)_

**Chapter 2-**

**MYK-ON:**

_Right! Right! It was totally nice dude~ *leans over and whispers* ~What's nice again? I totally forgot what happens in the second chapter xD Great author right?_

**Donov3:**

_I can't wait either. In fact I should probably write out a plot for this, before I get in too far and end up having no damn idea how I'm going to end this~ *sigh* ~This is the career I chose. (Haha, I don't even get paid.) _

**Kingkakashi:**

_Seriously, the fluff was so intense, you could see it. Yeah I changed the bell test, a lot. It always just sort of pissed me off how everyone was to self-absorbed to even notice the true meaning of the test. I honestly believe that Naruto would of gotten it because despite popular belief he is not selfish like Sasuke and Sakura was, and I really really really hate that that's how Kishimoto sort of displayed Naruto to be in the bell test._

**Guest:**

_I love my story too lol. I'll update soon I promise! if I don't update by next friday, all of you can come to my house and threaten me with a chidori or rasengan. ~ *shakes* ~ Just please, no Sakura beatings._

**Red Cheetah 93:**

_Yeah Kakashi really is a dumb dumb. Lol, I think I'm going to use that phrase at some point in the story._

**Chapter 3-**

**MYK-ON:**

_Yeah, when I started writing chapter three I thought, "I really want Hinata to hit on Sasuke." (Hah! See what I did there? Hah, word play.)_

**Red Cheetah 93:**

_Yes a gourd like Gaara's, they could be gourd buddies omg! Lol sarcasm lol. Anyways I honestly thought that the fight scene I wrote was shit because I don't know exactly how to describe a fight scene. It's so much harder putting it into word ya' know. But arigatoooooo for the compliment!_

**Kingkakashi:**

_Yeah it occurred to me that Sakura was the only member of Team 7 who knew that Naruto and Hinata were together! And it just had to be fixed immediately! ~ *gasps for breaths because she was talking to fast* ~_

**tasnim-x3:**

_Yeah, I can't wait until it comes out either. I like to read the chapter after I put it up lol. I read my own fan fics. Is that werid?_

**Gomen! Gomen! I know I haven't updated ina while but I swear I will put up the next chapter asap! Just don't blame me when there is a bunch of mistakes xD Arigato for ebing patient with me. Follow me on tumblr: neverlandsfirstlostgirl. A shout out to my shin yu and how kawaii she is!**

**-Selena-**


	5. The Dark One

**Author's Note:**

**I finally put this up! Idk if you guys are gunna like this chapter because there's a little bit of angst, a dash of Naruhina troubles, and a smidge of Narusasu. There's also a lot of background of Naruto's life before the Academy and before Iruka. Let me know what you guys think! Oh and here's a question, should I make Naruto evil or Sasuke evil? Or both of them? Answer in reviews please so I know what to start heading towards in my next chapter! Arigato!**

**-S-**

Haku turned around; his face impassive but his eyes showed fear. How in the hell did he not notice the kid before? Nevermind that, he had been caught and he needed to get more intelligence for Zabuza. He needed to worm his way out of this one somehow, so he put on the most innocent look he could muster. It's a good thing his face looks as feminine as it does, he wasn't sure he would be able to pull of such innocence if his face actually looked like that of his gender.

It was also a good thing he didn't wear his mask.

"Well there's not very many ninjas who pass through here. So when I heard there were some ninjas coming to town I just had to see. I saw you when I went out here to pick some medical herbs and you guys were training and I just wanted to see..."

His eyes were staring at Haku so intently but the fear Haku showed from the intensity was misinterpreted for the fear one would show if they had a kunai to their throat. Naruto sighed and quickly put away the kunai.

"I'm sorry ermm..."

"Haku. My name is Haku."

"That's a cool name! How about you sit down with me while my original waits for Sasuke to stop training."

Original? Haku's eyes did not only widen at the realization that she was speaking to a clone, but also to the sudden change in Naruto's attitude. No more than a few seconds ago he was someone worth to be afraid of and now he was friendly and bright and looked like he would never hurt anyone.

"It be my honor uhh…"

"Naruto. My name is Naruto."

"It be my honor Naruto."

They jumped down from the tree branch and sat down on the ground. He observed the ground carefully and pulled out a plant from the ground.

"Is this the herb you were looking for? Basil?"

"Yes, it helps heal scrapes and scratches."

"Oh, is someone from your family hurt?"

"Well I don't know if you can call him family, but he is the closest I have to one. And no he isn't hurt I'm just collecting these just in case."

They continued to talk while picking herbs.

"You know just because you guys aren't related by blood doesn't mean you're not family. I feel like anyone you are willing to protect with your entire being is family."

"Do you have anyone you want to protect?"

"Yeah I have people I would die for, but if I'm going to be Hokage one day then I've gotta be prepared to die for the whole village."

"And you do not feel that way now?"

A shadow crossed Naruto's face, "Well they don't see me as human, they think I'm a sort of monster and I guess in a way they're right."

Haku sympathized with the hooded boy. Because of her family's bloodline limit they were nearly wiped-out. Her mother had survived and had gotten married, but when her father learned of her mother's heritage he feared her, cursed at her, and then killed her.

"But at the same time I want to prove them wrong, no I'm _going to_ prove them wrong. I just need to get stronger."

"Well dying for someone isn't going to prove them wrong. You said you have someone to protect and that you'd die for them. But I feel like when you have something to protect that's when you must become truly strong. Not only so that you have the ability to protect the person you care about, but so that you can save them from the heartbreak of your death. You need to have the strength to survive, more for them then for you."

Naruto was looking at him with his big blue eyes with so much admiration and intensity that made Haku's face heat up and involuntarily look away. Naruto suddenly perked up.

"You know what Haku that was really nice."

Naruto got up and brushed the dirt off of his pants. He offered a hand to Haku. Haku took it and stood up.

"I suppose you friend finished training?"

"Yeah, he almost got it. I should be back here tomorrow. How about you Haku?"

"Yes, there's some other herbs I want to collect."

"Alright, then how about I'll meet ya' here tomorrow?"

"Okay, I'll bring a basket this time."

"Bye Haku!"

"Bye Naruto!"

And the shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Haku was happy when he left, he had actually enjoyed himself. However, he will not let this effect the mission Zabuza had given him.

**oOoOo**

While Naruto's shadow clone was keeping Haku entertained, the original was bored out of his skull. Granted, Sasuke had improved after the tip he gave him but that just meant that Naruto actually had to make an effort to catch him each time he fell. There was no way he would let Sasuke end up with a broken anything because of the situation they are currently in.

One time Naruto had ended up catching Sasuke bridal style.

"W-What are you doing d-dobe?"

"Catching you."

"W-why?"

"Because you almost fell."

Naruto was still carrying Sasuke, Sasuke was still being carried by Naruto. Sasuke was uncomfortable with these feelings he was trying to sort out at that moment but he was completely comfortable in Naruto's arms.

"P-Put me down!"

Sasuke started struggling in Naruto's grasp.

"I am! I AM! Just stop moving so much teme!"

Naruto placed Sasuke down softly and Sasuke jumped back as if Naruto was burning hot. Naruto just gave Sasuke a confused look but ultimately he did not think much about it.

"Okay well I'm going to train a bit more."

Sasuke was just about to run up the tree when Hinata came into the forest clearing.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke! Dinner is ready!"

**oOoOo**

The past few days consisted of continuous training-some lounging with Haku on Naruto's part-and eating meals. There was little talk between Team 7, but there was one dinner where everything got a bit heated.

They were just about to eat dinner and were discussing their plan when Inari had an outburst.

"Why? Why? WHY?! Why are you all doing this?! Don't you value your lives?! This is stupid, no one can beat Gato, and this will all be for nothing in the end!"

Naruto was so done with this brat.

"Well at least I'm not staying home crying like a little brat! I'm out there trying to do something! I'm trying to change the world! Not making it worse but fucking lying around and just letting the world destroy itself! I'm not lying around being a fucking prick!"

Inari cried and ran out of the room. Everyone looked at Naruto as he simply sat down and continued eating.

"Naruto-Kun!"

"Yeah Hinata-chan?"

"That was a bit harsh don't you think?'

"Tch."

Naruto was angry and Hinata reminding him that he had lost his temper was not helping. He was just getting angrier by the second and he could feel himself losing control. He knew he had to get out of there so he got up and walked out of the house. He didn't bid anyone goodbye, he didn't make any eye contact, he simply left.

Hinata's heart broke a little; it was shown clearly on her face. Tsunami placed her hand gently on Hinata's. She felt sorry for the girl. Tsunami understood that although Hinata and Naruto were together, there was something Naruto was hiding from Hinata. Something that is a part of him. However, that was something that Tsunami could not tell her.

Even though Hinata was hurt she thought that she could not chase after him right away. She thought he needed time, so she got up to talk to Inari. When Hinata got up she could feel everyone staring at her, it was a bit unsettling.

Now during this event Sakura was a little ticked off. Even though Naruto was a little harsh on the boy it was obvious that Naruto was speaking from experience. What had happened to Naruto? Sakura didn't know. But she knew that Hinata yelling at Naruto put him in a sour mood and with Naruto already not being his usual sunny self. Sakura didn't like the mood change and the fact that Hinata was one of the main reasons that Naruto was in a foul mood was the icing on the cake.

Sasuke was completely oblivious to what was going on. He wasn't listening when Inari had his outburst and he certainly wasn't listening when Hinata had said something. He was deep in his thought, trying to sort out that weird feeling he was getting when he was around Naruto. However, when he finally did start paying attention he noticed that Naruto wasn't at the table and the tension in the room. He got up and started walking to where Naruto was. His legs just led them there.

When he felt that people were staring at him he turned and said, "I'm going to go talk to Naruto."

Hinata wanted to say don't. Hinata wanted to say she would go talk to Naruto. But she couldn't, guy talk will do Naruto better, right?. She then made up her mind to busy herself by talking to Inari.

"I'm going to talk to Inari."

Hinata walked towards the young boy's room, where in the crack she could seem him looking up at the start with tears streaming down a face and what seemed like a photo of someone clutched in his arms. She snuck in carefully but he turned and stared at her anyway.

He tried to brush the tears of his face but more just flowed out.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came here to talk to you."

"Are you gunna insult me too?"

"No, I just came here to explain something to you. It's about Naruto-kun."

"What about him? I was wondering what was up with him that made him so driven to help us, and since you're his girlfriend you should know."

"Actually I don't, not really anyways.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I've noticed things. Like how the grown-ups stare at him, a stare that seems like they want him dead. They even say terrible things to him; saying that he should of never been born and how someone should kill him. Some of the kids our age have even been brain-washed by their parents into treating him badly. They'd throw rocks at him and bully him. Our teammates Sakura and Sasuke used to be one of those kids, but now that they know who he is they seem to admire him. Maybe even a little too much for my liking."

Inari was a little confused about her last statement but he just let it slide.

"What about you Hinata, have you ever been one of those kids?"

"No. I admired him from a distance. Every time someone tried to bring him down he'd just get right back up. He was so strong. He smiled for everyone, even if they didn't deserve it. He was so radiant, like the sun. But one day he stopped smiling. I don't know why, but I know that every time I and he are alone he's my sun again. There are times when he's smiling and then he suddenly remembers whatever it is that hurts him and he just stops.

It hurts when he just stops. Because I know I can't help. I can't help since he won't tell me. But I know that one day he will tell me, I just need to be patient.

However, despite the fact that he's a little more into himself more now, I still admire him. He's strong. Even though I don't know exactly what they are, he does everything for a reason. Never really a selfish reason. He does it because he understands and he truly wants to help. He does it because he hates and knows how the world can be so wrong and he wants to make it right."

"Wow."

"So I guess what I'm trying to say Inari is that Naruto went through a lot and yet he still knows how to carry on. He resents the world a bit, yes. But he's taken a pledge to fix it, just like your father did."

"H-How'd you know about my d-dad?"

"Me and Tsunami talked about it a bit while we were making dinner. Your father was a tough and a noble man and no man like that would want you to stop trying. Naruto-kun and your father are a lot alike."

"What about your dad?"

"Well that's a bit complicated you see. I don't act like myself in front of my father."

"Why not?"

"Because it protects my little sister."

"You know what Hinata?"

"What?"

"I think you're a lot like my father too."

**oOoOo**

It wasn't hard for Sasuke to find Naruto. When he walked out the door all he had to do was follow the sound of him training. Naruto was chipping a tree down to the core when Sasuke saw him and Naruto hadn't even noticed his presence. Normally Sasuke would be bother by this but for some reason right now he wasn't. He took the time to look at him instead and noticed that after each hit, Naruto just seemed to be getting angrier and angrier. Sasuke kept watching him until he saw some red chakra seeping out of Naruto and her certainly started freaking out right then.

He yelped a panic shrill of Naruto's name. When Naruto turned Sasuke did not see those blue eyes but hideous red slits.

"N-Naruto?"

The second time Sasuke said his name Naruto seemed to be coming back to himself, for his eyes had turned back to same blue as the sky would have been if the sun was out to bless the day.

However, it was night time and although the moon was out, lighting the sky, the darkness was reflecting the actual color of Naruto's soul.

And Sasuke was so far the only one who had seen Naruto's true color. When Naruto fell onto his knees and started crying Sasuke knew then and there that Naruto was not as bright as the orange he used to wear. No, Naruto was no one's sun. Naruto was never truly anyone's sun, he was an illusion.

He was dark.

As dark as Sasuke's eyes.

He did not shine.

He was as matte as one could possibly be.

Naruto was intelligent, yes, brilliant really. Some thought he worked hard to gain a sparkle, but no, he was naturally a gem.

However, he believed he held no value. Even though it was far from the truth. But if there is one thing Sasuke learned from Naruto, it was that if you truly believed it then you would become blind until someone opened your eyes.

Sasuke once believed he was alone and Naruto had proven him otherwise. Now, Sasuke believed that it was his turn to show Naruto that his darkness did not make him worthless and it was with the belief that he finally came to terms to his feelings of Naruto.

Sasuke was in love with him. The same love that Hinata held for Naruto. He knew it to be wrong, yes, and he knew Naruto would never feel the same way, yes, and he also knew that he would never tell Naruto, yes. He would Naruto from afar like Hinata had done before. he would keep the fact that he's in love to himself, he would never tell a soul, because he didn't want to hurt anyone.

But he also knew that he was the only one who knew about Naruto's true darkness, that is until Naruto gained enough confidence to tell Hinata. So he silently promised to Naruto that he would pull Naruto, for right now alone, out of his darkness. But the day that Naruto finds more people who love him-who know about his secret-and they too decide to help, then he will silently and slowly walk away.

This was all revealed in the ten seconds after Naruto had fallen to his knees and Sasuke ran, giving him an embrace once he had reached him.

This was all revealed in the five seconds after Naruto whispered, "I am the demon fox. The nine-tailed demon fox is sealed inside of me."

**oOoOo**

Naruto never imagined it would end up like this. Honestly, when he imagined the scenario of him revealing to someone, for the first time, his secret he never thought it would be because of something Hinata did.

Yes, it was not her fault and he knew that, but nonetheless he would not be in the position he is now if she hadn't said what she did. It would seem silly to others of how Naruto got so upset from a simple comment that meant no harm. But to Naruto it was sort of a moment of betrayal. Seriously. He was going to far? That was ridiculous, for Naruto knew exactly how far a person could go, and what he said didn't even touch the surface of what he had been told before.

He always thought that Hinata would be the first person he told and he was even planning on doing so. But there was always something stopping and usually it was a hesitation on his side. His plan on Hinata being the first failed rather miserably and in a twist of events it ended up being one person he had never and still really didn't consider a friend. Sasuke Uchiha.

It was when Naruto felt Sasuke hug him and cling on to him rather awkwardly that he discovered why Hinata never was meant to be the first.

It's because Hinata had never been alone. Not completely anyways. Hinata always had Hanabi. Naruto was alone since the beginning and grew like that until he was about ten years old; that was the time the Third had decided to actually step into Naruto's life and brought Iruka-sensei with him. By seven, Naruto already knew why all the elders seemed to hate him, he had figured it all out with just one simple trip to the library. So at ten years old Naruto had already been dealing with all that hatred, alone and aware of why, for three years. It was much too late for Hiruzen Sarutobi to try and make things better because Naruto had already dealt with the unfortunate terrors of life, but he didn't leave him alone ever again once he stepped in. Yes, no one really understood how terrible it felt to have not even one person, except for the lone survivor of the Uchiha clan. And that's why Sasuke was the first to know about Naruto's secret, because Naruto was afraid Hinata wouldn't understand.

Naruto grew alone and Sasuke become alone, and even though to an extent this was not true for Naruto was always being watched by pale eyes and Sasuke was taken care of by most of the village. It was the truth they believed in.

For them, it was the raw truth. And it was then that Naruto decided he would pull Sasuke out of the darkness even if he was pushed deeper into it.

Although this was the exact reason Sasuke wanted to pull Naruto out of the darkness, it was also the reason why he felt he deserved to be there. Because he felt like he was not worth feeling the warmth of light when he was constantly being used as a container for a demon. There were people who would love to see Naruto be their true sun and he knew that. There were moments, days even, when he would feel truly happy and those were happening more frequently but at the end of the day he was reminded that he was nothing but a demon in the shell of a boy.

Sasuke still had a chance, the power, and the potential support to become a strong shinobi and maybe even a Sannin or Hokage if Naruto could just show push him to the light.

Sasuke had more of a chance then Naruto did and that's why Naruto was content with his decision.

**oOoOo**

If one were to have passed by there first they would hear muffle sobs.

If one were to investigate those cries they would see two young boys, in a comforting embrace, crying.

If one paid attention they would see the looks of determination cross the faces of the young boys as the embrace went one.

If one were to stay a bit longer to observe, they would see the blonde one falling asleep, probably from emotional exhaustion.

If one would of looked at the raven boy's face when the blond did go to sleep, they would see a look of deep love.

And one did look, a girl with blue hair and lavender eyes, who now felt something very bad was going to happen in the next few months and it would drive Naruto to the insane.

Hinata was worried.

But that was a problem for later, now she had to worry about exactly how she was going to fix things with Naruto for she had, unintentionally, royally screwed things up.

**oOoOo**

To say that there was slight tension at breakfast the next day was an understatement. Hinata was worried Naruto was mad at her. Naruto was not upset at her, he just didn't want to look at her, because he didn't know what to say. He felt betrayed when Hinata said he went to far but no he felt like he betrayed her. He knew Hinata was waiting patiently for him to reveal his secret but in the end he told Sasuke first! How was he going to apologize for that? He could tell her the damn secret, but for some reason he still wasn't comfortable with tell her. So what was he going to do? For right now he decided to stay quiet, until he found solution he was happy with. Sasuke was hovering over Naruto. Sakura kept giving accusing looks to Hinata. Inari felt uncomfortable because of Naruto's presence and suffocating negative aurora.

It was a mess and the adults were stuck between it all. Kakashi then decided to be an adult for once.

"Alright, all of you need to start talking."

Hinata braced herself and made the first effort, "Naruto-kun."

Naruto sighed as he put his spoon down and pulled his hood up-he had started keeping it down at the house. Naruto stood up and looked at Hinata with a somber look.

"Can we talk about this later Hinata? I just need some time to think.

I'll be outside Kakashi-sensei."

Hinata winced at the lack of the –chan suffix, and everyone else winced at Hinata's hurt face, even Sasuke. Naruto walked away and Sasuke quickly followed suit. Now even Kakashi was confused of why Naruto was so upset, yes the kid was the Kyuubi container and he had been bullied, but was that the only reason or was there more? As far as he knew, Naruto always had Iruka and the Third. Or was that not how it was?

The something dawned up Kakashi. The Third and Iruka were not always there. But the question was, how long was Naruto alone and aware?

Naruto was naturally intelligent so Kakashi has no doubt that he found out on his own. In the end, Kakashi concluded that Naruto did not receive attention from the Hokage and Iruka until much later in his life and for some years before that he had found out and between that time he had been dealing with that secret by himself with no support.

He was sure of the hypothesis he had just drew up because he too was a genius. That was beside the point though; now Kakashi understood why Hinata's words hurt Naruto so much. Jeez when did this turn into such a mess?

**oOoOo**

It was days after the Inari fiasco when the shadow clone Naruto met with Haku again; the others were training while the original Naruto watched. It's not that he wasn't doing anything, every night he would stay up almost until morning to train. It didn't matter to him, it's not like the demon inside of him would let him sleep anyway. Plus Naruto had gone used to the lack of sleep due to the nightmares the Kyuubi would give him.

Sometimes Sasuke would join Naruto, but instead of him training he'd watch Naruto train. He was constantly amazed by what Naruto could do. Especially his taijutsu, for if there was a simple melody added in the background it could be like a dance, because of all the different styles he could mix together almost flawlessly.

On the days Sasuke came with him Naruto would never practice his ninjutsu. Naruto never practiced his ninjutsu in front of anyone, ever. He never practiced in front of Iruka or his ojisan. Yeah there was that time where he had to use his chakra pulse but that was a very simple jutsu, in fact if he was a show off he would have done it without the signs but he wasn't one so he didn't.

Back to the present time, around noon, after their daily morning training, Team 7 and their charge were on their way to the building site. Today was the day Team 7 would protect the bridge builder together. Naruto was expecting an easy day however that was not going to happen because there at the building site was another demon waiting for them. Zabuza was finally making their move and right when Naruto noticed him he prayed that he could manage to live with just his taijutsu because if couldn't he'd be putting everyone in danger.

Because if he couldn't the Kyuubi's chakra will surely leak out with his chakra.

Because if he couldn't his ninjutsu will be the color of blood and will reek of hatred and darkness.

**_Updated: November 3, 2014_**

**Author's Note:**

**I didn't replace the chapter but I added a few details that will hopefully make you less upset and will help you understand my reasons of having Sasuke fall in love with Naruto even more then I had already explained. Thank you for your reviews.**

**-S-**


	6. Author's Note (Not a Chapter)

**As I said to someone who messaged me earlier but I posted it up here because I want to clarify something:**

**Do not worry this will stay a Naruhina fan fic. As I stated clearly Sasuke knows Naruto would never feel the same and he knows it's wrong and he swears to himself he's never going to tell Naruto the truth. In honesty I was going to have Sakura fall in love with Naruto, it was to show Hinata that she must be careful with Naruto. Naruto will no leave Hinata for he care for her too much but he is in a dark place and is very sensitive, he isn't as strong emotionally as she thought he was. It was to show Hinata that Naruto could not always be her rock, she had to be a rock for him too. The thing with Sasuke revealed to Hinata that she had been depending on Naruto far too much and that she wasn't allowing Naruto to depend on her all that much and it was because of that that Sasuke was the one who made Naruto feel better that day, because Hinata thought Naruto needed to be alone when in fact he needed her. I don't know if that made sense but the point is their is growing to be some major growth in Naruhina. I just felt like I made them happy but it wasn't serious enough and at this point they had been going out for months. I mainly picked Sasuke because he was the only one who truly understands what it's like to be alone and how it's is dealing with things alone. I picked him because he understood these things and knew that Naruto didn't really want to be alone but ultimately Sasuke will back off when Naruto and Hinata make-up and when Naruto gets more friends.**

**Clarification:**

**This fan fic will not be a yaoi.**

**It is a Naruhina fan fic head on.**

**However, if you guys really don't like it, I will just take down this chapter and edit that part completely. Please let me know, I'm writing this for you guys and not for me, therefore if its really bothering the majority of you then let me know because I will change it. Just post a review or PM me!**


	7. Broken Tools and Promises

**Author's Note:**

**Finally got this up in time to say this: I'm thankful for your guys and your beatifulness and I'm thankful I finally managed to put this chapter up!**

**On a different note I need to announce that this fan fic will only be updated, at most twice a month, my other fan fic should be updated at least once every two months. It all depends on school really. But winter vacation is coming soon, so look forward to more chapters as a sort of apology.**

**But then again, the laptop finally came! So maybe I'll end up updating more then before. The reason this chapter took so long was because the Office Mobile app just got a new terrible update. If i switched to safari to do some research for the story and took to long it would automatically just reset itself and loose everything I had just finished typing! That happened to me like five times it was so frustrating!**

**On a far more important note, Naruto the last is coming out in like two weeks! OUR SHIP IS NOT JUST CANNON IT HAS A FREAKING MOVIE YOU GUYS! This chapter is dedicated to Kishimoto-sensei and all the Naruhina shippers out there!**

**-S-**

"Kakashi of the Sharingan, we finally meet. I see you still have those brats with you."

"Zabuza the demon, how great and they are my team after all. No matter how annoying their silence can be,t I'm sure if I left them behind Hokage-sama would have my head and not just because one of these kids happen to be his adoptive grandson."

_"So maybe the girl won't be the only one I can't get a nice ransom from." _Zabuza thought.

Naruto heard a shrill coming from the direction of Tazuna's house, he turned to Sakura, "Sakura, go check it out they might be in trouble!"

"Naruto, don't you think you should go? I mean, I'm probably not strong enough."

Naruto turned to Sakura and smiled, "Of course you can Sakura-chan! You have been training lots, you even doubled the amount of chakra you have. You can do it, I know you can!"

With Naruto's words of encouragement Sakura smiled and rushed off to save Inari and Tsunami. It was a simple task, the men were not shinobi so they didn't put up much of a fight. What she saw at the bridge however, worried her. Hinata was trapped in what seemed to be a sort of box (?) of mirrors, Kakashi was fighting Zabuza, Sasuke was protecting the bridge builder just in case, but Naruto was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Naruto-kun?"

Sakura shouted at Sasuke. Sasuke bit his lip, he was nervous, something Sakura had never seen before.

"I don't know, before we left he told us just to try and stall them."

Kakashi and Zabuza were sizing each other up when Sakura arrived and when Zabuza noticed that Kakashi was too busy looking at the brats to actually fight, he made the fog heavier.

_"__That got his attention."_

Hinata was dodging the senbon needles that the masked boy was throwing at her. It was thanks to her byakugan that she hasn't been harmed by any needles.

**oOoOo**

Naruto was freaking out in the forest.

_"__What am I going to do? What am I going to do?!_

_I have to go out there and help them, but what if I lose control!_

_What if I hurt someone!_

_What… What if I hurt Hinata-chan?"_

He turned when he heard someone scream. Naruto ran towards the scream and he was immediately filled with regret and self-loathing. At the scene before him there was Hinata covered in senbon needless. She appeared colorless and Sasuke was protecting her body from being hurt even further.

There laying on the ground, was the seemingly lifeless body of Hinata Hyuga and no one could have saved the poor soul that put the Hyuga Heiress in that state.

**oOoOo**

Sasuke was protecting Hinata's body. He had tried, he tried so hard to save her from the surrounding reflections of the masked stranger. But despite his months of training, he wasn't fast enough and Hinata had not learned the Heavenly Spin yet. Her lying dead was the outcome in the end. Sasuke turned when he heard several of Haku's ice mirrors break. He was surprised to see Naruto crashing through them, surrounded by an ugly red jutsu.

**"Wind Style: Armor of Wind!"**

**(Signs: Ram, Horse, Tiger)**

He couldn't melt them earlier so how did Naruto manage to break them?

When Naruto faced Sasuke, he saw that Naruto's eyes were red.

_"Kyuubi,"_ he thought.

"Get out of here Sasuke," Naruto growled.

"But Naruto!"

"Take Hinata-chan's body and get out of here!"

Looking deeper into Naruto's eyes he saw something.

Naruto was snapping.

Sasuke quickly took Hinata's body to where Tazuna and Sakura were. They didn't say anything when Sasuke arrived with a limp Hinata in his arms; they understood what was going on and decided to take the needles out of her pale skin instead.

**oOoOo**

Naruto could feel his anger take over bit by bit, along with the Kyuubi's chakra. But he had no control over his emotions at this point. Hinata was gone and it was all his fault. He was afraid, he left them all behind. Now look at what happened. But he could promise that he would never leave anybody alone again. Memories of an old childhood friend of his ran through his mind as he made this vow.

First things first, he had to get rid of these mirrors. Naruto whipped out his katana:

**"Wind Style: Slashing Wind Skill!"**

(Doesn't require hand skills; remember his katana can absorb chakra.)

Naruto spun around with the attack, and the force was just enough to break the mirrors. The red chakra spreading the smell of death and killer intent across the bridge like mist, causing the poor Gennin to drop to their knees and effectively knocking them out. The bridge builder was brought to his knees but remained conscious.

At this time, Naruto's hood had fallen off and you could clearly see that his hair grew wilder and his eyes were practically glowing red. Kakashi didn't know what to do and Zabuza just stood there speechless, staring at the one-tailed kid demon before him.

Naruto turned back to look at Hinata, the mist was now cleared because of Naruto's wind attacks so he could see her so clearly. His tail reached towards Hinata and before Kakashi could protect the other member of his team the red chakra enveloped her, but it didn't seem to be doing her any harm. Because Naruto's chakra was intermixed with the Kyuubi's he could feel the slight heartbeat she had through the chakra connection, but that wasn't enough to calm down the unleashed demon.

**oOoOo**

Meanwhile, Haku was terrified about the fact that Naruto had shattered her mirrors so easily. He as distracted, Haku had noticed, this might be his only chance. So he threw as many senbon needles as he could at vital points, despite the claustrophobic ache he was experiencing in his heart. However, even with the killer intent behind his attack Naruto easily defected the attack with a whip of his tail which would have hit him if he had not jumped back.

In a blink of an eye he was behind Haku, and Haku didn't even noticed until a strong force sent her flying; Naruto had kicked her. With a loud thud on the floor the beautiful boy landed roughly and barely had time to stand up before the jinchuriki landed another attack. Haku finally managed to dodge an attack and quickly recovered into her own stance. Naruto saw this as a challenge and took the exact stance as Haku's, for he had recently mastered this style.

"Take off your mask Haku!" Naruto demanded.

The red eyes weren't Naruto's, neither was the hair, or the raspy voice, but obviously Naruto knew what he was doing.

Shakily, Haku took off his mask. He had hoped that Naruto didn't know who he was, he really didn't want Naruto to know that his friend was the one who killed him.

"How long have you known?" Haku asked somberly.

"To be honest? Since the moment I met you, however I wanted to believe that our friendship would change your mind. Obviously it did not work."

Haku could feel the tears streaming down her face. She could not find it in her heart to do this, but what other choice did she have? Hesitating like this was not the way Zabuza's tool should be.

Zabuza always did say that he was too soft to be a ninja.

Haku was not doing so well, his back ached and his shoulder was hurting because he had popped it back in place after Naruto had hit him the second time. Even with all this pain he stood his ground; eyes raging with determination.

"Let's end this!"

They went head to head in their tiger styles, both of their footwork was flawless. After a series of punches, kicks, and dodges from both sides; they ended up panting. Haku had been pretty beaten up from the beginning of this battle, ironically though, Naruto was worse. The red chakra seemed to be slowly hurting Naruto as it kept healing Hinata and spreaded out to heal the other two members of his team as well. It seemed that whatever injuries the red chakra healed from his teammates would appear on Naruto soon after. Haku jumped back when she noticed this and decided to just end everything with one final ninjutsu. She started making seals:

**(Signs: Ox, Hare, Ram)**

Ice spheres were formed, surrounding Naruto but Haku had yet to detonate them. Naruto got the message.

**(Signs: Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, Tiger)**

**"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"**

**"Ice Style: Ice Bomb Sphere!"**

The flames were about to envelope Haku and she would have gladly let them, but when she turned she saw that along some point Zabuza and Kakashi had resumed their fight. Now Kakashi had Zabuza held down by some ninja dogs:

**(Signs: Ox, Rabbit)**

Kakashi was preparing to hit Zabuza with the chidori and Haku was not about to let that happen, she was still his tool even if she was broken.

**(Endings Sign: Monkey)**

**"Chidori!"**

Haku moved in a speed that shouldn't have been possible with her injuries.

**oOoOo**

Naruto couldn't even comprehend on what had happened, the only thing he did really know was that Haku did not activate her ice bombs and his fire jutsu turned them into steam. He quickly molded chakra and spewed it out of his mouth, it turned into wind and forced the steam away. What he saw made him freeze; Kakashi's hand was going straight through Haku.

The Kyuubi's chakra finally retreated back to the seal. Naruto was tired but that didn't stop him from catching Haku. He looked at Haku:

"You finally got what you wanted; dieing as Zabuza's tool."

Haku coughed up blood, "H-How do you kno-ow that?"

Naruto gently caressed his hair, "I saw it when we talked in the forest. For someone saying that you shouldn't die protecting your loved ones because it only causes more harm that's exactly what you wanted to happen to you. You're such a hypocrite, did you know that?"

He chuckled slightly, their friendship was one of friendly insults. Haku tried to laugh, oh how he wanted to laugh, but he ended up just slightly choking on his own blood instead. His eyesight was fading but Naruto's rich blue eyes were still clear to him as he said his last words.

"P-Please, take ca-are of him Naruto-o Uzuma-kki-N-Namikaz-ze."

Naruto's eyes widened, as did Zabuza's and Kakashi's.

"I never told you that, how did you figure it out? Dammit Haku, your too smart for your own good!"

Naruto started sobbing into Haku's tattered clothes, not expecting an answer because he already knew that Haku was dead.

"What a touching scene."

Everyone's attention was turned to a short man with stubby legs and brown hair.

"Gato," Zabuza almost growled.

"Zabuza, it seems like your little buddy here kicked the bucket. Oh well, you'll be joining your charity case soon."

"What crap are you trying to pull Gato?"

"I'm not trying anything. I'm telling you a fact. You're going to die today by the hands of my men.

You see I never meant to pay you. I was only pretending I was so that you could do my dirty work and then I could dispose of you before you went on and opened your mouth. But I have to say, I'm quite disappointed in you. You're supposed to be inhuman, a demon. A demon is ruthless and heartless, but you couldn't even kill a couple of kids. How pathetic."

Zabuza and Naruto both looked at each other and wordlessly agreed. Zabuza picked up his half-broken sword, one of his arms were bleeding heavily and would be useless in the fight, but he wasn't one of the Seven Swordsmen for nothing. Naruto drew out his katana, the blade was sharp but it will soon lose a bit of its edge. Their bangs shadowed their faces and the killer intent they gave off were taking its own form. Both forms had terrifying red eyes but one were slitted and the other were pupiless. Together they attacked and spared no one who got in their way. In a short amount of time they made their way to the defenseless Gato, and while Zabuza aimed above Naruto aimed below. Three different parts of Gato landed with a sickening bump.

oOoOo

Kakashi was not paying attention when Naruto and Zabuza were terrorizing the low lives that were Gato's men. He was only thinking of Naruto.

_"H-He's sensei's son._ _How did I not see that? I can't believe it, I was told he died along with Kushina-onesan but he's right here._

_Oh my god, sensei your son, gomenasai. He was hated and he was alone and I was never there. Gomen, gomenasai sensei. I should have helped him, not because he was your son, but because he was your legacy._

_However, I am sure you will be happy that he is strong and he is healthy. He has a split personality though, but from what I can tell when he's happy he's much like Kushina. There's also the fact that he shares your guys' love for ramen._

_Again gomenasai Sensei and Onesan but I won't ever leave him alone again."_

During his inner monologue Kakashi found himself tearing up a bit. But he made a promise, and he would not fail his Onesan and Sensei again.

He looked up when he heard the thump and saw his sensei's son covered in blood. How outwardly flinched at the sight, how can such an innocent looking kid be so ruthless?

"So what are we going to do now?"

Kakashi said just a bit louder than a whisper. Naruto took lead and spoke with confidence.

"We bury Haku. I'll talk to you in private while Hinata-chan and the rest recover. We stay here until we are in top shape. When they wake up I have to talk to Hinata-chan and tell her something. We're taking Zabuza to the Leaf with us because Haku told me to take care of him. I'm going to send a message ahead anf tell Hokage-ojisan what happened and Zabuza's situation."

Zabuza snorted, "And what makes you think that I want to go with you, brat?"

"Because you have nowhere else and no one to go too."

"So what I didn't need Haku and I especially don't need a brat like you looking after me."

"Listen! For the few days that I knew and talked to Haku, it was clear to me that he loved you like you were his father. Of course he never confessed to this, but Haku was really not suited to be a ninja, because you could read his thoughts just by looking at his eyes. With that said, I know how Haku felt about you and I know that no matter how much one may try a person cannot completely devoid themselves of emotions. Therefore, it is impossible that you don't feel at least something for Haku and if you're willing to show that you at least respected Haku then you will come with me so that together we can fulfill Haku's dieing wish."

By the end of Naruto's speech Zabuza was crying. He did love that boy like his son, he really did. So, he would do what Haku wanted him to do. Zabuza promised to live out his life, no longer as a missing-nin, but as a ninja from the Hidden Leaf.

_"You'd be so very proud Sensei and Onesan."_

**oOoOo**

The rest of Gato's men were upset that Zabuza and Naruto had killed their boss. So they tried to go after them and threatened the village also. What kind of idiots, right? It doesn't really matter though because soon after their threat an arrow shot out towards them. It was the villagers, they had finally found hope and we're ready to stand against the thugs. Of course, said thugs are idiots and were about to attack the villagers anyways with their strength in numbers. However, Kakashi and Naruto made clones and the criminals found themselves out numbered. Needless to say they introduced themselves thoroughly to the water.

This is how we end up with Zabuza, Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura recovering in separate rooms while Nauto and Kakashi talk.

**oOoOo**

Naruto was stripped down, left only in his boxers. His clothes had been drenched in blood and instead of washing it out he opted to just throw them out, even if they were quite expensive, he had brought extra pairs anyways. He was changing in the hall as to not disturb anyone when Kakashi came by.

"Naruto."

Naruto put on his orange fishnet shirt.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei?"

He put on his orange fishnet leggings.

"Why didn't you tell me about your parents?"

He slipped on his ankle-cut sweatpants.

"Because I thought you knew. I mean I never figured for any of the villagers to find out, but you? You were me father's student. You should have known. Seriously, I almost look exactly like him."

Naruto zipped up his hoodie up to the collar and placed his hood on, then he tied his headband around his neck. Kakashi didn't even know what to say. Naruto was right he should have known. How could he have thought that Minato would sacrifice someone else's child? It was obvious he wouldn't, he was not that sort of man.

"Gomen, gomen, gomenasai Naruto-kun."

Naruto-kun? Kakashi had never called him that before.

"What are you apologizing for Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked up and Naruto saw that he was crying just a bit.

"For letting you grow alone. I've concluded Naruto-kun, that you've known for a few years about the Kyuubi and that it was sometime before the Hokage and Iruka started training you. I can't believe that you had to deal with that all by yourself, not only the fact that you are the demon container, but also with the fact that almost all tge villagers hated you. However, even though it may be too late, I ask for you to forgive me and for you to let me more into your life."

By this time Kakashi was silently sobbing. Naruto really doesn't like seeing people cry, it reminded him of the many times he would come home and cry because of the wat the people from his birthplace would treat him. He could forgive him, but forgetting was a whole different thing. Then again, that's not what Kakashi was asking for, nonetheless Naruto was a bit unnerved that Kakashi had analyzed him like that and had been spot on.

Naruto let out a sad chuckle, " Well I guess they don't call you a genius for nothing neh? Come on, this subject is a bit depressing don't 'cha think? We should go check on the others, right, Kaka-oniisan?"

Naruto gave Kakashi a smile that peaked out from under his collar. Kakashi couldn't stop himself from smiling while tearing up again. He had been forgiven and he had been blessed with a smile Naruto only directed towards his precious people.

**oOoOo**

It took a little while for Kakashi to compose himself, he definitely did not want his other students seeing him in such a state. Both of them checked in on Sasuke, he was still asleep even though he didn't do much fighting, maybe the training was harder on him then he'd care to admit. Zabuza was also still asleep, but he was healing. When they went into a different room to check on Hinata and Sakura, they saw that Hinata was wide awake. Naruto, in a burst of utter gratefulness, crushed her into a hug. The hug went on for a few seconds before Kakashi decided it was best that he left.

Naruto was hugging her so very tightly, comforted by the warmth her body had, letting him now that she had almost died out there but she was still there. He couldn't believe he had let her leave to fight without apologizing first.

_"What a fucking ass I am,"_ Naruto thought.

He hugged her even tighter.

"N-Naruto-kun I can't really breathe wi-ith you hugging me so hard."

"Hinata-chan, gomen, gomen. Gomenasai. I can't believe I left and let you fight without apologizing to you first, I can't believe I left you at all."

"What are you apologizing for Naruto-kun? I should be apologizing to you, I don't know what I did to get you to be upset at me-"

Naruto lightly smacked Hinata on the cheek. (Think like how Hinata did for Naruto when he was losing faith because Neji died.)

With a fierce look in his eyes he spoke roughly, "Hinata-chan! Don't you ever think that I am upset with you in any way! You are my Hinata-hime and there's no way I could ever be mad at you.

Gomenasai. I didn't think my actions would lead you to believe that it was something you did that made me upset. It was me.

You see Hinata-hime, there's something that I've been meaning to tell you, but for some reason whenever I'm about to I back out. I've always wanted for you to be the first person I told this too, but I was so scared that you would turn away once I told you this. I realize now that my fear was stupid, because the only way to know for sure of how your reaction will be is by telling you.

I have to apologize first. Because I was being a jerk to you while I was trying to figure out how to apologize to you for storming out without so much as a good-bye. Another reason is that I know you've been waiting patiently for me to tell you my secret, and I hate that I ended up telling Sasuke before I told you. He came to see me after I left and I was pretty vulnerable at the time because I was mad at myself. He was comforting me and I really needed it and I just blurted it out. Gomenasai, I really wanted you to be the first."

Hinata nodded. There was no way she was going to argue with him, he was being a jerk to her and she had been waiting patiently. It irked her a bit that he had told Sasuke before he told her, she knew she should have gone after him. Her instincts were screaming at her to, but no she had to go with the latter. At least now she knows to go with her gut feeling when it comes to Naruto, it was their first fight, trial and error you know?

Naruto stood up from his crouching position and stripped his jacket off. (A bit counterproductive since he had just put it on.) And did the same with his fishnet shirt. Hinata looked away, flushing in embarrassment. Naruto noticed this, so he decided to put his jacket on, to lessen the rather uncomfortable environment. Hinata deemed it somewhat safe to look at Naruto but still blushed at seeing Naruto's much-too-fit-for-a-thirteen-year-old body. Naruto channeled some chakra to his stomach, were the seal appeared seconds later. Hinata was amazed at the seal, it was rather fancy looking with the squiggles, but you could tell it was a rushed job.

_"__Why would Naruto-kun have a seal like this on him?"_

Naruto gave her a bitter smile, "The day the Kyuubi attacked, there was no way the Fourth could beat it. A tailed beast is like a huge summoning creature that is made entirely out of chakra ya' know. So instead, he sealed it into a baby. Not just any baby though. He was far too noble to sacrifice someone else's child for this burden, so he used his own newborn baby. My dad wanted me to be known as a hero, but all the villagers saw was a demon. Seeing this, Hokage-ojiisan passed a law forbidding anyone from mentioning it to anyone who didn't already know, that way I could have friends. He also gave me my mother's, Kushina Uzumaki, last name to protect me from my father's enemies. Of course that didn't end up going very well, there were two people who didn't hate me, because their parents had decided to follow my Father's wishes. One of those were a good friend of mine until I was ten, the other was far too shy to talk to me until recently."

Hinata had been absently tracing the seal on Naruto's stomach while listening. When she noticed that Naruto was finished she got up and hugged him tightly.

"I understand now, why you told Sasuke first. You two have the bitterness of growing up alone; I always had Hanabi. Whenever my father yelled at me for being weak and I would start crying, Hanabi would always yell at father and give me comfort. I'm so glad you trust me enough to tell me about your secret. Just to tell you, you'll always be my hero."

Naruto smiled. He lifted up her chin up and placed a long but loving peck on her lips.

"And you'll always be my Hinata-hime."

After the kiss, they both looked at each other with a red blush of their faces. That is until Hinata broke it with a question.

"What happened to your friend?"

"Well…umm…you see…He was my best friend from when I was five-years-old. But when I was seven, I found out about the nine-tailed demon and my parents, and I guess I just kind of shunned myself after that. I was having a hard time dealing with it ya' know, but then again in retrospect that probably wasn't a good idea. It wasn't until I was 10 that I started trusting people again, by then we were enrolled in the Ninja Academy and I had already been training with Hokage-ojiisan and Iruka-oniisan for three months. (The summer before classes started.) I started my lie as the dead last of the class with no friends and I lived it out like that. Because I was a loner, and a loner has got to be alone. He was also isolated by the classmates though."

Hinata glared at Naruto-which was not at all intimidating but rather cute looking.

"Naruto Uzumaki, when we get back to the Leaf Village you are going to apologize to your old friend!"

Naruto smiled sadly, "I always planned to, ya' know. But like with you I was scared of how he would 'react' since I just left him without a word, but I owe it to him. So when we get back I'll introduce you to him too."

Hinata smiled and nodded in agreement.

Naruto blessed her with his cheeky grin, "Alright well let's go out and train or something, let Sakura rest peacefully ya' know."

"Alright but first you might wanna…"

Naruto looked down at his somewhat bare state. He quickly zipped up his coat and stuffed his fishnet shirt in his coat pocket. They left hand in hand. Little did they know that Sakura had been awake the entire time.

**Quick translations and words I will be using in the future:  
><strong>

**Onessan/onechan=Sister**

**Oniisan/oniichan=older brother**

**otouto=younger brother  
><strong>

**imouto=younger sister**

**Ojiisan/ojiichan=grandpa**

**Ojisan/ojichan=uncle**

**Obaasan/obaachan=grandma**

**Obasan/obachan=aunt**

**Okaasan=mother**

**Otousan=father**

**Mago=grand child**

**Itoko=cousin**

**Oikko=nephew**

**Meikko=Niece**

**Leave some reviews please!**


	8. Bonds

**Author's Note:**

**I really love the chappie. Its freaking cute. I'm proud of myself, I got this up quickly. Thank you for the alerts ya'll. More chapters will come soon! The glory of having a laptop and of not wanting to do homework. God I have literally been working on this all day! Anyways, arigato!**

Chapter 6-

They only stayed at the Land of Waves for a few more days. Hinata and Naruto would train while the others rested. Sakura, on one hand, avoided everyone like they were paper bombs. Naruto had tried countless times to ask her what was wrong but she would shake him off each time.

She was separating herself from the team because she didn't really feel like she belonged with them. In a span of a few months (think like two months after they became Genin so let say it's the month of August now), Naruto had made her feel: unloved, useless, weak, close-minded, strong, determined, and now distrustful. He told both of her teammates his secret and she knew that Kakashi had probably known the entire, but what about her? Was she really not considered a close friend to him? He had called her Sakura-chan hadn't he? She honestly felt like their friendship was getting stronger and that's why she added the -kun suffix to his name. Was she so wrong? When they arrived at the bridge, they were about to set out on their departure when Kakashi pulled Sakura to the side.

"Sakura tell me, why are you avoiding Naruto and the others?"

She looked up and smiled rather weakly.

"Oh no reason Kakashi-sensei, it's just that after everything that happened I guess I'm just feeling a little homesick. I should be fine when we get home."

It was a good excuse but Kakashi couldn't help and feel that there was something more to it. He let it slide though, he was sure that Sakura was smart enough to figure herself out.

Team 7, including Zabuza, made their way to the Hidden Leaf. They all turned their heads, however, when they heard a loud childish voice.

"Bye Hinata-onechan, Naruto-oniichan."

Naruto and Hinata turned with a cheerful grin on their face; the three had certainly gotten close in the last couple of days. Hinata waved her goodbye and Naruto yelled his:

"We'll visit soon Inari-otouto.

**oOoOo**

When Inari said goodbye to Hinata and Naruto he was a bit sad. The trio had opened up to each other in the last few days and now that they are gone he is feeling a bit lonely. Inari was interrupted from his thoughts when his mother spoke.

Tsunami said, "So what are we going to name the bridge?"

"What about The Great Uzumaki Bridge?" Tazuna suggested.

"Why Uzumaki only?" inquired Inari, "Why not something like the Uzumaki-Hyuga Bridge?"

Tazuna hummed, "Well because yours is too long and because one day, they are both going to be Uzumakis."

Inari broke into a very Naruto-like grin, "You're right! The Great Uzumaki Bridge it is!"

**Bridge Plaque:**

**THE GREAT UZUMAKI**

**BRIDGE**

**_"One day a team of ninja came to this town in a time of economic distress. Gato, the man who caused the poverty, was taken down by those talented ninja. Among this group of ninja was a boy as vibrant as the sun in soul and physique, and a lavender-eyed girl. They brought life and hope back to this village with their strong wills and fierce determination. This bridge is a thank you to the lovely couple, because they gave us hope when all we felt was fear."_**

**oOoOo**

The group of five made it to the Hidden Leaf quickly enough. At the gates they were met by a few ANBU, the guards were there to escort them to the Hokage's Office.

There was a knock on the door, Sarutobi sighed. He could still feel the headache.

"Come in."

In came Team 7 along with Zabuza.

"Team 7 does not need to enter an official report, since Naruto already sent me a detailed one. However, I still want to hear what happened from the others' point of view. First, let me tell Zabuza of what will happen.

It's a good thing that Naruto told me ahead of time of what happened or else you would have been imprisoned until a decision was made. The council and I decided, after much, much, discussion that Zabuza can stay in the Leaf and retain his status as a Jounin. However, until further notice, he will not be allowed to leave the village and his chakra will be repressed. On my personal order, Zabuza Momochi will be teaching and sharpening Naruto Uzumaki's skills in kendo and kenjutsu."

Naruto and Zabuza shared a look and then nodded. They respected each other's skills.

"Thank you for the opportunity to teach the next Hokage, Hokage-sama."

Old man Sarutobi smiled, as did everyone in the room; even though two of the smiles weren't visible.

"You are dismissed Zabuza, Boar is waiting outside to escort you to your new home, he will be placing chakra suppressors before you leave the building though. I trust you will not try to remove them."

Zabuza left the office.

"Now Naruto, you might want to go talk to Iruka. He was there when I got the report and has been an emotional mess since then."

Naruto barley spared the Hokage a glance when he charged off.

"As for you four, exactly how much of the truth about Naruto do you know?"

Sakura was nervous, she wasn't supposed to know, Naruto hadn't told her himself but she can't lie to Hokage-sama now can she?

**oOoOo**

Naruto ran into his old sensei's house.

"Iruka-oniisan! Iruka-oniisan! I'm okay!"

He ran around the house screaming like a banshee, it took him a while to notice that Iruka wasn't there. When he did notice though, Naruto ended up in his new room. It seemed like while Naruto was gone Iruka had taken the time to move Naruto's things out of his old apartment and move it into Iruka's home. Iruka also decorated Naruto's new room.

The room was painted a bright orange, it made Naruto laugh Iruka will never let the orange die, and then again Iruka did say once that the bright color actually complimented him in a strange way. The bed set and desk was made of a light brown wood, his comforter was indigo (much like his old jumpsuit), and above the bed was the red Uzumaki spiral. What really caught Naruto's attention though were the pictures on his nightstand and drawers. There was a picture that Teuchi took when Iruka tied his headband on Naruto. The second picture was one of Team 7; everyone was pushed together since there has never been a ninja Genin team of 4 before, but it was a nice picture. Especially with Kakashi bringing everyone into a hug, Hinata giving a shy smile, Sakura making peace signs, Sasuke's scowl being replaced with a small smirk, and Naruto's big grin peaking from his collar. The last picture was the one that really got to him though; he would really have to thank Iruka later for finding such a picture. It was one of his parents and his godfather; they were all making silly faces with ramen noodles hanging off their mouths. His mother had her eyes crossed, his father had his Kage hat on sideways and his tongue stuck out, and his god father seemed to be in the middle of a word with his mouth opened wide.

It was all so beautiful; he had to thank Iruka immediately. He went to the only place he could think of where Iruka was, the Ninja Academy.

Iruka was giving the new batch of Ninja trainees a lesson on the history of the Hidden Leaf village when a big emotional thing glomped him, Iruka was literally pushed into the wall. When Iruka finally looked down at the blue-eyed kid who pushed him in the first place he couldn't help but feel relieved. Can you blame him though? That was a C-rank Mission gone terribly, terribly wrong. Iruka was momentarily surprised when he saw the end of Naruto's cobalt orbs tear-ups.

"Oh Iruka-oniichan! GOMEN-ASAI! I DIDN'T MEAN TO WOR-RY YOU A-AND THANK YOU FO-OR THE PICTURE IN MY ROO-OM!" (Think of a chibi Naruto face with dramatic tears streaming down his face when you read this. That's what I was thinking when I wrote this.)

Iruka chuckled, Naruto could be so adorable.

"So you already saw your room? I was hoping to surprise you with a bowl of ramen before you saw it; I'll make some later anyways."

The blessing of Naruto's grin was given to Iruka again, as it always would be.

A loud voice was heard from the children's desk, "Oi! Iruka-sensei who's that and why'd he call you oniichan? I thought you were an only child!"

Naruto turned to see a blue-scarfed brat staring him down. Iruka and Naruto quickly got up and dusted themselves off.

"Well everybody," Iruka said as he patted Naruto on the head, "This is my adopted brother Naruto. He graduated from last year's class and just came back from a C-rank that changed to an A-rank mission."

There was a series of "ooh's" and "ahh's" coming from the students but Konohamaru just scowled. He knew that name; it was the name of the boy who his ojiisan always spent time training or worrying about.

"Pshh…whatever! I'm not even a Genin and I can do that!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the kid, he seemed familiar.

"Konohamaru, sit down and behave or I'll have to call Hokage-sama again."

Konohamaru did what he was told.

_"So that's it, he's Hokage-ojiisan's mago,"_ Naruto thought.

"Now Naruto, we were just talking about the history of the Hidden Leaf, but since you are here I'm sure they much rather see some ninjutsu. Do you have any **_appropriate_** ones you want to show them?"

Naruto smirked, "Yeah I do, I practiced this while everyone was recovering at the Wave, Hinata-chan helped me a lot with this."

Everyone waited for a few seconds then they heard a pop and saw smoke. Three shadow clones appeared by Naruto's side. There was a moment of silence; most of the class was amazed.

"I don't see the big deal! I've seen tons of ninja make clones."

Moegi hit Konohamaru on the head.

"Konohamaru you dummy! Don't you know anything?! Ninja use hand seals to channel and mold their chakra, but he didn't use any! That's supposed to be really hard!"

Konohamaru scoffed.

"Not just that, but these are no ordinary clones. They are shadow clones; they have a physical body and can take a few hits before disappearing. Not only that but they are excellent for recon missions, this is because you will retain the knowledge your clone received when it disperses. This is a forbidden technique because it requires a lot of chakra and could kill someone if they don't have enough. That was very good Naruto, I'm proud," Iruka said with a smile.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "If it wasn't for Hinata's help I wouldn't of been able to do it. I haven't mastered it yet though, I need to work on speed and I can't make nearly as many I can when I use hand seals. Well I've got to go meet up with Hinata-chan, we've got something to do. I'll be home soon Iruka-oniichan."

Naruto waved good-bye to all the children then left. Udon raised his hand right when the door closed behind him.

"So if someone needs a lot of chakra to do the shadow clone technique and Naruto-senpai can make more than five clones, he must have more chakra then a Chunnin or maybe even a Jounin, right?"

Iruka smiled sadly at the spot where Naruto just was, "You have no idea."

**oOoOo**

"You were what?!"

The Hyuga Heir was fuming.

Sakura cowered further into Kakashi's side when she saw how angry the usually shy girl was. Shy girl personality pushed aside.

"I-I said that, while you a-and Naruto-kun were talking, I was awake the entire time. I-I didn't mean to listen to anything, but-t I thought it would be more awkward if I just got up in t-the middle of yours and Naruto-kun's moment."

"Are you planning on telling him that you know?" Sasuke asked.

Everyone was surprised; Sasuke hadn't talked the entire time. He just answered with a series of "hn's" and nods. Sakura shook her head.

"No Sasuke-kun. I am upset that Naruto-kun doesn't seem to trust me enough to tell me of his secret. I know that it is a big secret but we are friends and teammates right? I am going to work on earning his trust so that he can tell me when he feels like I'm a trustful friend. I feel like Naruto-kun should tell whoever personally about his secret because it is one that kept him isolated for all these years."

Hinata seemed to calm down from Sakura's statement so when she physically relaxed Sasuke stopped holding her back. Everyone seemed happy with Sakura's answer. The tension was slowly lifting from the room and just when it was disappearing Naruto came crashing in.

"Oi! Hokage-ojiisan! Do you know where Team 10?" Naruto spoke as he rolled from his spot on the floor to get a better look.

Everyone busted into a form of laughter, it had been too long since they saw Naruto's lively personality and it was refreshing to see it again. Naruto gave a grin of embarrassment at his rather rude entrance.

"Yes Naruto, they should be finishing their last mission of the day, so they should be at the training grounds, but why?"

"No reason! I just gotta talk to one of them! Oh and Hokage-ojiisan! Iruka is making ramen later, you should come! You too Sakura-chan and Sasuke! I invited Zabuza-san too! It's going to be like a party to celebrate our mission, I'm sure Oniichan will be happy to see you all. Now I'm going to take Hinata-chan, we'll meet you at my house at 4!"

Naruto spoke so fast and practically dragged Hinata out of the room, everyone had to blink twice to make sure that everything had just really happened. It seemed like Naruto was in a really good mood and had completely forgotten about keeping his impassive exterior intact. However, they all knew this wouldn't be an everyday occurrence.

**oOoOo**

As soon as Naruto got out of the hallway that contained the Hokage's office he stopped dragging Hinata and just held her hand. He did make sure to fix his collar and his hood though; he didn't want anyone seeing who she was holding hands with.

"Where are we going Naruto-kun?"

"To the training grounds, were Team 10 is."

"Why?"

"Because that's where my childhood friend is."

"So he's in Team 10?"

"Yeah, I hope we get there before they leave."

Hinata nodded enthusiastically.

Naruto and Hinata made their way to the training grounds, just as they were about to enter the area Team 10 walked out. Everyone stopped.

"Hinata-onechan! You're back!"

Hanabi hugged her older twin sister.

"Yes-s Hanabi-imoto, w-we just ca-ame back today." (Remember Hinata has her semi-false front, which includes the stutter.)

"Oh thank god! When Hokage-sama told the families of what happened I was really worried!"

"W-Well we are fine an-nd we completed the mission a-and got paid the amount of-f an A-rank mission."

Kiba whined, "Man you guys got an A-rank mission! That's not fair Kurenai-sensei! We've been stuck doing D-rank missions since we passed Kurenai-sensei's test!"

Kurenai seemed to be horror-struck. How could the Hokage send a bunch of Gennin on an A-rank mission?! Surely, he wouldn't!

Hanabi glared at Kiba, "Idiot! We are Gehyunin! We don't qualify for A-rank missions! Plus we can get killed! Also, they were sent on a C-rank mission that just so happened to get very dangerous! They probably had a lot of injuires!"

"I don't get why that team was sent on a C-rank mission anyway! Ino and Chouji said that they suck!, especially since they have that dead last baka on their team!" Kiba retorted.

"Actually we have completed the most D-rank missions out of all the Genin team!" Hinata said as she felt the need to defend, "And the worst injuries that I, Sasuke, and Sakura got were chakra depletion while Kakashi-sensei and Naruto-kun got deep wounds from protecting us and fighting!"

Team 10 was taken aback from the fire in Hinata's speech. From what Hanabi had told them and from what they knew, Hinata was a very quiet and shy girl with a terrible stutter, but she didn't hesitate once.

Naruto squeezed Hinata's hand as silent thanks for defending not only him but their team.

"Naruto," Shino said with a nod.

"Shino," Naruto responded in a similar matter.

"It has been a while."

"Yes it has."

"To what do I owe this encounter?"

"As I'm sure you have noticed I have adopted your old style."

"Yes, I have to say I was most surprised."

"I don't suppose it reached your face though."

There was a tiny twitch of the mouth on Shino's part, "You are correct."

The already silent bystanders were shocked, the Aburame impassiveness was famous and they just witnessed a crack in it.

"Back to the issue at hand, I actually came here to apologize to you. I regret that I ended our friendship without so much as a word, but I do hope to continue it should you accept my apology."

Naruto took out his hand-the one that wasn't holding Hinata's-and when he opened his palm he presented a small bug.

"Thank you Shino, for always keep an eye out for me. Your bug saved my life multiple times, informing the Hokage of my incidents. I'm sure that Tasune-san would be proud about the development of them."

Shino nodded, "I accept your apology."

Shino took Naruto's hand and they shook, it was their way of re-establishing their bond. The bug climbed up to Shino and for a short time there was silence.

"You are aware that my bugs repeat to me whatever they hear. So, I must presume that you want me to be aware of this information, am I correct?"

Naruto nodded, "Yes you are. You are my oldest and most trusted friend; also I know you'll see that logically there is nothing to be scared of."

Again there was a pull on Shino's lips, "I do not think that I would need logic to see that, you are Naruto after all."

Naruto feigned surprise, but everyone else was, "An Aburame who does not use logic at all times? That is unheard off."

"Not unless that Aburame happens to be friends with Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto's smile peeked from his collar, "Well allow me to introduce you to my girlfriend and teammate, Hinata Hyuga."

There was a slight surprise to Team 10 at Naruto using the word girlfriend to introduce Hinata but they said nothing, although Hanabi was a bit upset that her sister did not tell her. She knew that they had gone on a date but she didn't know that it had progressed this much. Naruto and Shino released hands and Shino gave a polite bow to Hinata.

"It is nice to finally meet you Hinata-san, Hanabi-san has said much about you."

Hinata smiled warmly, "No need to address to me so formally Shino-kun, you saved my Naruto-kun many times, for that I am grateful and I hope we can be good friends."

"Would you like to join us for ramen at Iruka-oniisan's? Hanabi-san may come too if she wants too," Naruto said.

Hanabi and Shino both agreed. Shino sent a bug to go inform his parents of the reason of why he would be home later than usual. Hanabi made no move whatsoever to inform her father of her dinner plans or of her sister's homecoming. Hiashi had made no outward reaction when the Hokage informed them of Team 7's mission and it annoyed her to no end. So she would stay away from home as much as the opportunity allowed. The four young teens made their way out of the training grounds leaving behind a slightly confused Kurenai and Kiba.

"Kurenai-sensei, I'm confused, what just happened?"

"I'm not really sure," then Kurenai smiled, "But I think a strong bond was just made…I have some suspicions of that boy."

Kurenai was well aware of what was sealed inside Naruto and she hated that the villagers treated him so badly for it. She however, like most Leaf ninja, was not aware of the violence they would put upon him. Although, it seems like Naruto was cared for by the Hokage, Iruka, and Shino something about it was bothering her. Perhaps she would ask Kakashi about it when they see each other. Which would probably be within a month considering that the Chunnin exam was coming up.

**oOoOo**

Everyone arrived at Naruto's and Iruka's house on time. It was a good thing Iruka made a lot of ramen and had a big table; he swore Naruto would be the end of him. They were all sitting at the table with a bowl of ramen in front of each, but no one made a move to eat yet.

Iruka said, "Okay, before we eat, I believe that introductions are in order."

Everyone had stripped off what they could of their ninja gear so that the atmosphere was more casual. The Hokage himself didn't even have his robes on and Naruto didn't have his coat on. Shino did because he felt uncomfortable without it on and since it was an Aburame custom to be heavily clothed no one made a comment on it.

"Alright, well I'll just go around the table."

Naruto motioned to each person as he introduced them to his Oniichan.

"Oniichan you already know Ojiisan so just say hi and make do.

This is Kaka-oniisan. He was a student of the fourth and he's my Jounin sensei. I'm sure you've met him before. Don't get jealous that I call him oniisan though; you'll always be my favorite!

Next to him is Zabuza-san. He's my new sensei; he's going to be teaching me in kendo and kenjutsu. He's a Jounin too.

Those two are Sakura-chan and Sasuke. They are both close friends of mine and are my teammates, although you already knew that and who they were but oh well moving on!

Next to me is Hinata-chan. S-She's well…"

Iruka raised any eyebrow. Naruto was blushing?

"Well umm…Hinata-chan i-is my uhh…girlf-friend."

Iruka internally screamed, _"KAWAIIIIIIII!"_ seeing his otouto all flustered like that was almost too much for him.

"Well it's really nice to be formally introduced to my Otouto's girlfriend. Thank you for taking care of him Hinata-chan."

Hinata was also flustered, "I-It's my pleasur-re really Iruka-san."

_"KAAWAAAAIIII!"_ Iruka screamed mentally again when he saw how cute they looked together, especially with them both blushing. The only person who was not thinking along the same lines as Iruka was Sasuke and instead was feeling a bit of envy. He quickly pushed that to the back of his mind though.

"A-Anyways," Naruto continued, "Next to Hinata-chan is Hanabi-san. She's Hinata's twin sister. She's a couple of minutes younger than her though.

Finally, there's Shino. He's the friend I told you about."

Iruka smiled again, "Thank you for helping my Otouto Shino-kun.

Now I think that's enough for introductions, now let's eat."

The sound of breaking chopsticks in half was followed by, "Itadakimasu!" from everyone.

The meal was filled with idle chit chat and everyone enjoyed themselves. When they left Naruto and Iruka fell asleep quickly together on the couch.

oOoOo

Hiashi Hyuga was not a happy man at this moment. His daughter was very late and she didn't even tell him that she was going to. It was rude of her not to inform him.

When Hinata and Hanabi came in though, he was a bit surprised. He was not aware that his other daughter had come back from her mission.

"Hanabi, where were you and why didn't you tell me you were going to be late?"

"I went to go eat ramen with Onesan, we talked and she told me about her mission. Is it a crime to worry and hang out with my Onesan?"

Hiashi's eyes narrowed, "Very well then. Go one to bed Hanabi. Hinata you stay here, I wish to speak to you."

Hanabi walked away, she did go to her room, but she was watching the situation very closely with her byakugan. She was a Hyuga and sh was trained to read lips.

"I trust the mission was completed and that you were not a burden to your team in anyway?"

"Y-Yes Otousa-an."

"I trust that you know that because you accomplished an A-rank mission, your Clan Training will be more vigorous?"

"Yes O-Otousan"

"That means you will now train with Neji, he is a Branch Family member and you will not embarrass the Main Family. Do you understand?"

"O-Of course O-Otousan."

"Be awake and in the family dojo by 5:30 in the morning tomorrow. The training will last until you must meet with your team. Now go to bed."

Hinata left with a bow, it was late and she was tired, waking up earlier than usual tomorrow did not sound appealing at all. Plus how was she going to hold back on her training? She didn't want to hurt anyone and she need to keep the image of her being weak if she wants to protect her sister from the Caged Bird Seal. What will she do?


End file.
